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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 2 years ago

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they ABSOLUTELY get special traits!

they are as unique to one another as the bat species they originate from

vampire folklore differs between cultures and countries because the vampire species are all so different

eg;

Africa is home to a lot of insectivorous bats so transforming into fireflies (or possibly even other insects they've consumed) would be an insectivorous vampire trait (as for the hunting children, it's most likely they just try to scare them away as they don't prey on humans)

I imagine due to the enormous number of different insectivorous bat species there would be even more differences among them than any other vampire species, insect eaters have hundreds of sub cultures among their kind (I would have to do a lot more research on vampire lore to get deeper into this tho)

vampire bats are only really found in South America, so their folklore on blood drinkers would be most accurate

blood drinking vampires also have plenty of lore about them shifting shape, like the insectivorous vamps they can change into what they've consumed, that includes humans, their natural form is extremely bat like in appearance (to the point of appearing almost monstrous)

(I personally think vampire bats are very cute but probably not when they're six foot tall and coming at me in a dark alley) they often use the forms of humans they drink from, many will attack attractive humans as an attempt to appear more alluring, which is where the seductive vampire trope was born

a lot of blood drinking vampire myths come out of Europe where vampire bats aren't generally found, I like to think that one especially nasty vampire migrated from South America to Europe and singlehandedly started an absolute pandemic

fruit eating vampires don't have the transformation ability, but like the blood drinkers they do all take on the features of the fruit bat, with large eyes and pointed faces, typically considered to be quite beautiful in an unsettling sort of way

except hammer headed fruit bat vampires

people often mistaken them for blood drinkers, and unfortunately as they have no shape shifting ability, they are the most persecuted vampires and often live deep in the woods in isolation, the places they inhabit are often believed to be haunted as they do everything in their power to drive people away, including destroying logging machines, in some places they have a sort of camaraderie with local humans who are also dedicated to protecting their forests, they're especially friendly with park rangers, who are used to their presence and know that they're harmless as they will usually help them find lost hikers and children

the hammer headed fruit bat vampires are the only ones to typically show up in folklore as vampires, the rest are more commonly mistaken to be faeries, due to their tendency to show up in forests and throw wild parties where they dance and sing in a hypnotic manner, drawing any passersby in, those who partake of the fruit and become one of them will be spirited away never to be seen again, except perhaps in a hundred years time as they return to their home appearing as young as when they'd left, but with strange pointed features and those large dark eyes

in regards to being infected by two different vampire types, I imagine it'd mostly be a case of which strain takes hold the quickest and wins out over the other, if by extremely rare odds they are matched, you'd either die of fever as your body becomes a warzone, or you'd end up as a potentially extremely unstable hybrid

if you're lucky you'd be able to sustain yourself on both diets, though some vampires would reject you as something strange and unnatural, perhaps even seeing you as a bad omen, especially if you appear with a visible mix of features

if you're unlucky your body will reject all food and you'll starve a long agonisingly slow death where you go into a mad fury trying to consume what your instincts say should feed you but your fucked up biology won't accept

thankfully this situation is so rare it's almost folkloric among vampires themselves, it probably happens no more than once a century if that, and most of them don't even survive the initial infection

why are the modern interpretations of vampires only based on one kind of bat, give me vampires based on other bats

give me vampires that eat only fruit or bugs

give me vampires with cute foxy faces or big ugly noses

give me slight and petite vampires based on microbats, or tall and beefy vamps based on the giant bats from the Philippines

give me different vampire species who all have their own cultures and social system of cliques and rivalries, give me vampires whose appearance varies based on what bats are common in their country

blood drinkers are the classic high class variety of snooty vampire who love drama and plaster themselves all over media as super cool and sexy, when really if they let their glamour slip you can see they all have big ears and weird noses, they have a toxic culture of looking down on humans as nothing but a food source

there are definitely sub cultures among this type of vampire who find different ways of eating, like working for a blood bank and pinching supplies, or posing as an alternative medicine practitioner who specialises in old medical techniques like blood letting or using leeches

this is only really an issue for city life blood drinkers tho, those who live rural have a much easier time feeding off cattle who have more than enough blood to spare, a vampire can easily feast on a different cow each night with no fatalities, these vampires usually hang in smaller groups so as not to overdrink from the cattle, and they have a much better attitude toward humans since they don't only see them as a snack, they'll often work with humans to guard their more vulnerable animals at night from predators like foxes

bug eating vamps have a long history of running pest control services, and mostly mind their own business, they tend to be very down to earth and private and sometimes embarrassed to admit their eating habits to humans, but they've been making some headway in turning bug eating from something inherently gross into an interesting food trend in western cultures, they also have a higher population count in countries where eating insects is less unusual since many of them tend to move there for the more tasty seasoned options

the only way to be turned into a bug eating vamp is via bug bite transmission, their populations are heaviest in areas dense with mosquitoes, though the more vampires there are in the area, the less mosquitoes there tend to be since they, you know, eat them, so the populations don't tend to bloom out of control, but as a result of this method many freshly turned vamps have no one to explain what has happened to them, most bug eater communities are hyper vigilant to the behaviour of people around them, always on the lookout for signs of the recently turned so that they can support them

their appearances vary wildly from region to region based on the local bat species they originated from, a majority of bats are insectivores, so this makes them the most common of vampire species

fruit eaters are the least common and tend to lead the most normal lives since fruit is usually widely available in most civilisations, but there are many who run their own fruit farms and orchards, often forming little communities among themselves that can get very cult-like from an outside perspective due to them all sharing somewhat similar fox-like features and keeping very odd working hours, some regular humans sometimes try to join the commune but often struggle with the very limited fruit based diet and nocturnal lifestyle unless they take vitamin supplements and are natural night owls

accidental vampirism tends to happen a lot in fruit bat vamp circles because the method involves a vampire sharing a piece of fruit with a human, which is remarkably easy to do by accident since they tend to share amongst themselves a lot, especially when they've been snacking on the fermented stuff and aren't paying a lot of attention to who they're sharing with

I dunno if anything like this exists already in any forms of media but I definitely haven't seen anything like it before and I just thought it was a fun and interesting idea

#vampires #vampire lore #I'm so glad to be able to talk about this post again #this is one of my favourite concepts

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eb-byestelle · 5 years ago

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:3 2 5 6 9 13 14 17 22 23 24 28 29 30 34 35 37 38 40 41 43 44 47 48 50 54 55 56 57 59 60 61 63 64 67 68 70 72 73 74 76 79 80 81 82 84 87 88 90 97 98 100

Hi there !! ❤️

Oh lord……….. 😵😅 There is a lot of it! But in some way it flatters me 😂💖

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

I do. It seems to be sth unpleasant but I like that tbh. It’s a very refreshing feeling.

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

Ofc I’m 😂

6: do you keep plants?

Generally no. I prefer to have an ornamentation which are long-term like a paintings or various types of souvenirs. But every now and then I love to buy some roses or lilies.

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

Sometimes.

13: what’s something that made you smile today?

A few things for sure ^^ For example some new epizode on the channel of one of my favrite youtubers. I usually don’t care about youtubers, but there is few guys who I really like. He is one of them. Besides of reviewing and mocking of a bad movies, he started to make a program when he laughs of his inept cooking skills and in a funny way he tries to do the various dishes. It was the epizode when he tried to do some dish created by Gordon Ramsey. With his brilliant joke and a chill style of being, as usual it was great. Another thing which comes to my mind is a very tasty breakfast 😋

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

I guess it would be like in case of a lot of roommates. A separate rooms for each of us. Each one would be the own part of the fridge. The bills would be divided in half for each.

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

Right now I have a color I like (dark chocolate).

22: are you a morning person?

Not exactly xD I love mornings! It’s my favorite part of the day. But at the same time I love to spend all night without sleeping xD At night we have the best ideas and the biggest inspiration ❤️ sometimes I call myself „a night animal”. But I still love mornings, this fresh air, very pleasant atmosphere. But because of my love to being „a night animals” my morning is only sometimes in the correct part of the day (like 7.00 – 8.00 am).

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

Like today xD Eg. replying to messages (like right now xD), cleaning, some activities like a cycling, trips or swimming, watching a movies, finding an interesting things or creating sth like a new poem or taking a new photos to my albums.

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

Yes, she is ❤️ She knows more than anybody.

28: sunrise or sunset?

Sunrise ❤️

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

Eg. when there is my birthday time and some my friend always gives me the gifts which perfectly suits to my interests and my personality ❤️ It’s the sign for me that someone knows my well and I’m important for him/her.

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

I think I have… But I’m not sure when exactly. It was a long time ago…

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

You mean a mascot, right? I still have my dear bunny ❤️ Its name is Niunia (a girl name). I got it for my fourth birthday. It was one of my biggest inspiration for the next 10 years xD Thanks to this bunny I created my first tales, comics, novels, and arts. It was like an one big inspiration bomb xD

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

Yeah, I like it. I use it very often.

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

Rather clean.

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

It would be probably when someone is too sarcastic. Many people love sarcasms. Some are funny, when don’t laugh of somebodies in some mean way, but generally when it’s sth too personal, directed directly to me, then it’s sth very painful.

I also really don’t like when someone is a religious fanatic. I’m not an atheist and I totally respect all religiouses but some part of them are just insane… Some of them even try to say, that the homosexuality is a disease and that the contraception is a killing. Maybe we should claim that the religious fanatics is a disease xD 💀😂

Oh! And I hate this obsession with diet and exercise. It’s great to feel attractive and healthy but it started to be the one large international persecution mania 😅💀💀

40: think of a piece of jewelery you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

Ahh, ofc! I have a lot of jewelery, many of them remind me of some memories. My the most precious thing is my ring which I bought from my first scholarship (the scholarship I got in 2015, while I bought it in 2016). I wear it everyday. Later I went to the some steep hill and at the top of this hill I’ve done a kind of oath to myself that I will never make some mistakes once again, i.e. that I will always respect and love myself and I will always be faithful to myself (Sth a bit like a self-wedding xD There was even the cross xD).

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

Generally I read book quite rarely, I choose much more the watching the movies/anime, but when I think about a books like this, eg. now I’m reading some really great book. It’s called „Sophie’s World”. It’s about a teenage girl which one day came back from school and inside of her letter-box found a letter addressed to her, where it was one question „Who you are?”. Later, after she started think about who could give it to her and wonder about that question, another anonymous letters with philosophical questions began to be put into her letter-box. After a short time, after stimulating her curiosity towards philosophy, still without knowing the identity of the mysterious philosopher, the girl started a philosophy course, this time receiving a lot of long sheets full of new knowledge. More and more she began to delve into the world of philosophy, while at the same time trying to find out who is that mysterious teacher. At the same time, every now and then for some reason in various places, she found some things for the another girl she had never met. So far, I’m halfway through, history is getting more and more interesting. This is not a romance, as might be suggested by that “mysterious man” xD is a novel which is a kind of textbook of philosophy inserted into the story of the main character, written in a style that is one of the best literary styles I have ever read ❤️

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

With my music xD 🎵🎇

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

It was some time ago, on my last ride by bicycle.

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

The meat from the dogs 😱😭😭👎

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

In case of this, I’ve really changed. As a kid I was scared by a storm, altitude, public appearances, spiders, darkness, although at the same time since childhood I’ve liked to challenge myself. Then there was a time when there were many strong negative experiences in my life, after which I came up with some simple thought: “Once I was afraid of a storm, but then I found out that there are more terrible things than a storm.” Now I’m afraid of only few things. I was able to go in the middle of the night through a dark forest, perform in front of a hundred people or run away from a stranger who chased me with a log in hand and even then I didn’t feel a fear. But there is still something I’m scared. It’s a bad people. I divide bad people into “culprits” and “intruders”. These first ones are people aware of their faults who have made mistakes, but they have a goodness within them that helps them to be better. Those second ones are totally evil. They are persuasive. People love them and follow them. They’re often completely unaware of the quantity of evil that is within them. Their boundless ruthlessness, combined with their eternal state of repression and alleged innocence, make them worse than the most dangerous lion.

I’m also afraid of losing humanity. I have the view that human is a creation between an animal and a device. I don’t want to get lost totally in lusts and instincts, like an animal, I don’t want to lose myself in logical cold action, like a device. It’s important to not forget about the instincts and the logical thinking, both skills are very valuable. But the extreme transition to one of these parties is bad. And very simple in a present times. While there is still humanity in the middle, specifically this what is metaphorically called “the soul” (feelings, weaknesses, sensibility). I don’t want the present world to deprive me of this.

50: what’s an odd thing you collect?

I guess I don’t collect any things like this.

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

Some my friend from studies. She has a very hard time right now…

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

It’s hard to say… But I guess it was some „skill” I had to learn, ie. more „sharp” kind of speaking and behaving, more agressive. Ofc not as a kind of speaking everyday, but it were a situation which forced me to be cruel to someone who hurt me. It was my final attempt to prove that this person very hurts me and deserves my contempt. It worked. Now this person is completely different to me. But I don’t hide that it was difficult. In a way, I had to move my scruple and find within me something what I call “wildness”.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

When someone still has inside sth from a child. Specifically, I mean a children’s sensitivity, curiosity about the world, the ability to dreaming, child’s innocence and a kind of enjoying something like a child. Imo it’s very important to cultivate everything this within us, at the same time having sth of an adult, like eg. an emotional maturity (there are ofc also children who can do it ;3). I like when someone is not afraid of being themselves. I also value a tenderness. I also like when someone gets involved in something with a passion, in some of their interest, or even in the anime episode xD

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

I can to listen to this AGAIN AND AGAIN 💖🎵🎵

59: what’s your favorite myth?

I don’t have any.

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

I like ^^ My fave poets are Adam Mickiewicz and Jan Lechoń. From my poetry my fave poem is called „The Shine” about how to recognize the true great love and not to confuse it with sth worse, some fake. It resembles a dialogue by a man with a personified „Mrs Love/Goddess of love Venus” (there is even sth mentioned about Venus). The man falls in love with someone, but he hesitates, doesn’t know if she’s this only one. Love tells him that yes, this is the only one. Love also tells him what he should to do to not lose her and how to realize the enormity of his feelings and distinguish the “first place / podium” from the others ones.

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

I gave one day for one my friend a cup with picture of Rei from Free! in a butterfly costume. Have I received some stupid gift? Maybe that bright green headphones for music in the shape of little monkeys that looked terribly and worked even more terribly XD

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

I think that to some level I’m fussy, but not very much. I love the most to listen sth what it evokes some feelings me and emotions inside me or inspires me to sth. When it doesn’t do it, it’s not a big deal but on the first place I put a kind of music like above.

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

Black (We have a 2:15 am so .. xD).

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

It’s not sth what makes me feel worse. I just try to accept any weather and to be above it. But sometimes there are a moments when I feel sleepy.

68: what’s winter like where you live?

It depends. Sometimes it’s light and warm, about 0oC, sometimes we get even -20oC O.O … The snow is every year but not during all winter.

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

So far I have not.

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

Some things yes. I love to create a lists concerning various things. Thanks to this some stuffs and things to do are orderly in my head. But not everything. There must be a place for being spontaneous lol xD without this we don’t live xD

73: what are some of your worst habits?

No comments XD

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

Friendly, kind, tender, open-minded, full of passion and amazing ideas, funny, inteligent, positive, shy, sensitive, as much pervert as me (or more xD), with a golden heart 💖💖💖

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

Yhm, Sleeping? (2:40 am while tomorrow morning I go to work xD sometimes I have to turn off my inner „night animal” xD)

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

Eg. when one my friend gave me on my birthday ALL collection of „X/1999”, all 19 volumes which cost a lot of money and which are also very hard to find. I’m truly grateful for that, it’s one of my favorites manga serieses ever! In case of guys, eg. one kissed my hand only in a winter glove, claiming that he’s not worthy to do it without this. From myself (I do for myself A LOT of sweet things xD) I’ve gotten a gold statuette for happy birthday with an engraved wishes 😄🏆🥇

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

The walls of my bedroom are in a creamy color. I didn’t chose it but creemy it’s for me very neutral color so it’s alright. In my future dreamy bedroom the walls would be white or in a powder pink color.

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

Yeah, this is perfect xD

82: are/were you good in school?

In those subjects I liked. That was my rule xD About the rest I didn’t care.

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

I guess not.

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

The scientific movie “Journey to the Edge of the Universe” (2008) It’s one of the most beautiful and profound movie from this kind, I’ve ever seen ❤️❤️ „100 girls” when the main guy has absolutely brillant reflections about a women and men, everyone should to listen to him! :D And „Lucy”, about the potential of our brain. And perhaps also „The Devil’s Advocate”, it’s a food for thought.

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

Music for sure and a bit the painting world.

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

Let my own photos and those from the Internet will tell instead of me.

Yeah… That’s Wroclaw 💖

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

INFJ/ENFJ, pisces/aries , none of hogwarts houses.

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

Last week, It was very nice. I really like this kind of spending time.

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

I think that none of them. I don’t want t change a past, I like the state of things which is now and love some special memories which could to not happen If I would go back 5 years. I also don’t want to jump up the 5 years which can bring something special.

*****************************************

It reminds me some trend which we were in the primary school, called “The golden thoughts” where some person created a 100 question, wrote in a notebook and later others answered her question in that notebook. It looks exactly the same ❤️

Thank you for your message! 😘

#tag game #ask #answer #E.B. - by Estelle

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sweetjegus · 6 years ago

Photo

Tree bark skin here! - it’s a set of armsocks/tights that I painted over with acrylic paint, fabric medium, and puffy fabric paints!

Design: Threw search variations on “wood/forest dryad/nymph” into Google, pulled inspiration images from the results. Some key selections from my 27-image ““dryad folder”” are included above, with artists/sources cited in the photo captions.

The final ensemble represents the third design iteration, as it was changed a few times within the first few weeks of working on this. Things taken into account: (below the cut)

Coverage: Since I would be using armsocks and tights for the “bark skin” texture, I needed to have part of my bust/shoulder region covered (for the armsock opening). And with my face + neck painted, the more the neck/bust area was covered, the less paint would be required.

Result: Bust zone covered up to base of neck, “bared” shoulders, high collar.

Materials: Most of these fabrics and beads were pulled from my extant stash, so I needed to figure out how to best incorporate a bunch of chopped-up strips of fabric.

Result: The tunic gets its texture from different types of fabric (suede, gauze, cheesecloth, linen) that are placed on long diagonals for a better blending effect.

Character history: Per the “evolution” aspect of Sloane’s character, I kept a few elements common to her half-elf outfit.

Result: Bared arms, pauldrons, tabard, knee-high boots.

Other: I wanted to noodle out a lot of experimentation.

Result: Tunic shape and form kept relatively simple to allow the focus to be on the fabric manipulation pieces.

Construction:

Sew a base garment out of sturdy brown fabric.

Make a bunch of fabric manipulation pieces (gathering, beading, random embroidery).

Trim down and sew the manipulations onto the base garment.

Paint over with a wash of very diluted acrylics to homogenise the colour.

Slightly more detailled notes on construction:

Fabric manipulation: Mostly two types - 1) random lines of stitching that are pulled together for an uneven bark-y look, and 2) basketweave smocking (which can be done super loosely and eyeballing the measurements for that improvised, organic feel). After finishing the smocking, I stretched it through an embroidery hoop to distort the distinctive basketweave texture. I added random texture with embroidery floss (the floss also helped maintain the distorted texture after removing the sample from the hoop) and beads.

Boots and pauldrons: Layered felt base. Texture is pleather and cotton crinkle gauze (everything was pulled from scraps!), randomly pinned down along lines to make bark-ish ridges and then tacked down with thread. Painted over the suede and gauze with a mix of brown and tan paints to highlight the texture.

The date on my first sketch is 2 August 2017 (........the day immediately following the release of Story and Song part two, which says a lot about my self-control), and I wore the full getup the following January -- a loose work time of four months, though many of the logged hours were spent idly making the texture pieces whenever I had free hands (eg during D&D sessions, appropriately enough).

Let me know if you’d like any further clarifications or details!

#asks #tutorial #sloane #flippendulous #dryad #anonymous #NOODLY WORDMAKING BECAUSE IT'S TWO IN THE MORNING

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the-twisted-empire · 6 years ago

Text

The forest watches

Welp as I said horrific won, so here have you venturing into Greg's forest and regretting it.

It was a dare to go in, a push for bravery, a stab at bravado and a drunken moment of idiocy...but you were no coward. They egged you on word by word with every step into the woodlands until the shouting words were nothing but whispers and their looking eyes could no longer look.

But now new eyes looked upon you now though, the forest watches you go in deeper

The crunch of the ground below and the sound of leaves on the wind are the only sounds holding your hand on this unneeded adventure yet you feel more, you feel unsettled by the world around you, the trees bend to block the night sky, the darkness that does seep through encases everything and the air is thick with the scent of...decay.

But through it all, you still feel eyes upon you, like the forest watches you.

But you soldier on into the nighttime unknown looking to prove your bravery to goading friends. But all becomes worse the deeper your bravado drags you in, the scent of decay only grows stronger, the ground becomes more uneven and wrong under your feet and from what you can see on the ground there are telltale signs of hunting...or at least there was. this deep in bloodied traps litter the ground and trees above and the air is so thick with decay the scent is beginning to become a visible thing.

But then with traps littering the ground rustling startles you, as if the forest watches you.

You have gone far enough you think as you turn to flee as the bravery once held turned to consuming fear and you begin to flee, your heart races as do your feet to bring you back to the light of the outside. But the forest in your state seems to want to stop you, branches simply sprout in front of your face, logs and bramble rise from the ground as you move forward and it only makes the fear grow stronger.

But is this even the way out you puzzle over and over as the forest still watches you

Then disaster for you as the ground for one step shifts from forest to cold trapping steel below you and a sickening snap stops you from running any further, your scream echo’s into the dark as the sharp teeth of the trap dig into your flesh and dragging out the blood inside with it tearing your flesh and muscles apart, every movement you make in a panic only grinds and grates the teeth deeper. With you stuck the forest once again closes in on you and the panic you feel steps into overdrive with blood flowing out of the wound rapidly and your heart beating at a bullets speed. More of your screams of help made their way into the forest but you had gone too deep...you friends wouldn't hear if they were still even there.

But then the bushes nearby rustle, the forest watches...but now the forest comes for you

You lean down desperately trying to pull the trap off of yourself in vain as the forest bushes open and a camouflaged older man steps out, he looks shocked and even worried which does take some of the panic but you cannot help feel as unsettled by him as you did the forest, his entire demeanour screams friendly but in a sickening way.

“Oh my goodness I'm so so sorry I didn't think anyone would be here at this hour friend, let me help ya out and get you outta here.”

His voice had a southern drawl to it and sounded sweet as chocolate yet mixed itself with a gruff undertone, soon your vision began to become hazy as he did eventually free you from the trap and propped you up, you had lost a lot of blood and in his arm slowly passed out with his face being the last thing you saw.

“Don't worry, you ain't a weak one, your gonna make it~”

this time, the hunter watches you

#Greg Dunkan #Writing #Btd #Btd oc

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livingcorner · 3 years ago

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Landscaping for sustainability | Sustainable Gardening Australia@|how to create a native australian garden@|https://www.sgaonline.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/design2-1920.jpg@|21

Principles Getting started Your needs, wants and budget Take your time The design Selecting plants Special elements Plant selection Plant placement – plant stacking and hydro-zoning Site details Material selection Know when NOT to DIY Costs Water features

Principles

1. To design a landscape that minimises the requirement for energy inputs. These inputs may take the form of petrol to run mowers, leaf blowers and line cutters; chemicals to treat pests; and fertilisers to promote growth, H2O, cleaning agents, stains and finishes to keep hard surfaces clean and well-maintained. Informed plant selection that reduces the need for maintenance inputs – e.g. gardens/landscapes that feature a high proportion of amenity lawn require much higher energy inputs than a mixed herbaceous/shrub planting. On-site treatment of green waste also reduces the need for energy input.

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2. To design a landscape that minimizes the requirements for high water inputs, above that which naturally occurs in the particular region. This may be achieved via plant species choices, microclimate design (hydrozoning), mulches, water recycling etc.

3. To design a landscape that maximizes opportunities for biodiversity at all levels. This includes attracting wildlife, maintaining complex ecosystems, companion planting, considering the health of soil biota, recognizing the links between the elements of the garden and the organisms that inhabit it.

4. To design a landscape that maximizes vegetative biomass. This aids in carbon stabilization. For example a landscape that features a high proportion of paved or hard surfaces and/or high proportion of amenity lawn stores much less carbon than a landscape which features higher proportions of vegetative biomass. And we mean permanent vegetation, not material that must be constantly pruned or mown heavily, or seasonally replanted.

5. To design a landscape that maximizes the opportunity for the growth of produce (vegetables, fruits, bush tucker/edible weeds),and other useful materials including composting, on-site green waste recycling, space for chooks and other sustainable elements. It encourages you to supplement your diet with freshly grown produce, encourages you to consider more than the ornamental value of gardens, and makes you aware of the environmental impacts of broad acre farming and all that this entails, eg. fertiliser/chemical applications, soil structure, etc

6. To design a landscape that minimizes the risk of weed-escapees moving into native habitats. Consider the reproductive biology of the plants selected for your garden, or the ways in which particular species can be maintained to lessen the risk of their unwanted spread (for example, deadheading or removing the flowers off Agapanthus as soon as the flowers die).

7. To design a landscape that minimizes or eliminates the use of materials that disrupt, destroy, pollute or damage natural systems/communities where they are sourced. For example, retain top-soil so far as possible in present condition, chose mulches sourced from timber industry by-product or local source by-product, avoid sleepers taken from native forest, ornamental river pebbles harvested from active waterways, and avoid plants harvested from the bush or logging coups. Choose locally sourced (eg bulk) materials to reduce product miles, where possible.

8. To design a landscape that minimizes the risk of disruption, pollution or interference to other systems. For example, the effect on non-target areas from highly toxic, mobile or residual chemicals can be catastrophic. Runoff from poorly designed landscapes can affect local systems via erosion or movement of damaging products (chemicals, soil movement, weed seed).

Getting Started

1. Measuring Up

Any existing house plans or the Land Title will be of assistance, as measurements will be shown on these and can reduce your work. Crudely draw the shape/boundaries of the garden on a sheet of paper. Measure the dimensions of the site and write all the measurements on the paper along the appropriate boundary lines etc., as shown in the illustration here. Measure the position of existing trees and other plants that will not be removed and note these on the paper. (It’s also a good idea to note plants that you are removing, as it can help with planning).

When plotting the position of elements in the garden, utilise existing permanent structures such as fences and buildings, so that measurements can be taken at right angles from them. This will ensure that the position on your plan is accurate. For example, to pinpoint the exact position of the lemon tree on the top right of the illustration here, the tape measure was laid out at right angles from the top fence (the tree is three metres in), and then the tape measure was laid out at right angles from the side fence and that distance is four metres in (this is noted on the paper).

2. Site Analysis

A careful site analysis makes it much easier to design your new garden because you will have noted anything that could have an impact on the garden’s success.

a. Where’s north? If in doubt, the street directory or the GPS can help and so can a little compass! When designing a garden, the movement of the sun can be very crucial. We will discuss this more in another Part of this series.

b. Take note of sunny and shaded areas. (Remember that the sun is much higher during the summer months.) Local shade will vary depending on surrounding structures eg fences, trees, neighbouring houses, as well as the seasons.

c. If you know your garden well you might even be able to note the areas that are boggy in winter or particularly dry in summer.

d. Slopes. Depending on what work you intend doing or having done in your garden you may need to consider having accurate levels taken, especially for any construction works.

e. Soil type (and condition). Refer to the SGA information page on soils.

f. Size and position of trees and other plants that are staying.

g. Existing paths and other features that are staying. (These will also need to be measured and accurately noted on your plan).

h. Overlooking to or by neighbours.

i. Views (from windows into the garden as well as views from and within the garden).

j. Neighbours’ trees etc.

Take a note of anything that may help you with your garden plan and write it on the paper with the measurements. Remember that even minor ground depressions can be utilised.

Your Needs, Wants and Budget

If you were a professional designer, this stage would be referred to as the Client Brief. In this case you are the client and the designer!

You need to consider what you want out of this garden but keep your budget in mind. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend you might want to consider how you can implement works over time.

Needs

Write a list of everything you need in your garden. For example, a garden shed, and the size you are thinking of. It’s a good idea to have catalogue information for these sorts of items, so that you have accurate dimensions.

You might need an area for the kid’s trampoline and swing set. So you need to work out how much area to set aside – remember to include plenty of surrounding area for sliding off slides, jumping off swings and trampolines etc.

If you are including a vegetable garden, you need to think about the size and whether it will be in ground or above ground (garden beds, pots, or upright planter beds). If you are new to vegetable growing, start small but perhaps have a plan to increase its size should you find you can cope with growing more. Vegetable gardens can be quite time consuming. And because vegetable gardens will require regular water, remember that any other high water use plants you might want to include, such as fruit trees should be planted in the same area. But be mindful of future shading of the vegetable garden. Think about the size of the tree when it has grown, as its canopy might be several metres in diameter.

There are smaller fruit tree varieties available now that are small in stature but produce quite a lot of fruit.

Then there are the other utility items such as clothes lines and storage areas.

Do you need a cricket pitch?

And if you have a courtyard sized garden, you better prioritise your needs. We’ll get onto some design solutions for smaller spaces.

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Wants

This could include the style of the garden. Garden design books and magazines will help you narrow in on the look that appeals to you.

From a design point of view, don’t forget to incorporate standard design elements, including repetition, contrast (colour, foliage), asymmetry and surprises in to your overall ‘look’.

Keep in mind when thinking about what style of garden appeals to you; you can achieve it using drought tolerant, native or indigenous plants. SGA has prepared information showing just how this is possible, and with examples of plants from the local Melbourne area that would be appropriate.

Make a list of your favourite plants, textures, foliage colours and flowers.

Sculpture and artworks might be considered. Even a very small budget can cope with a bowl of water on a rock and this can be as effective in the right surrounds as any expensive sculpture.

Take Your Time

Take your time to think about what you really need and want in your garden.

Some more questions to get you thinking . . .

Do you like winding paths and surprises around corners, or do you prefer a vista of a garden?

Do you entertain outdoors a lot? If so, you may need to consider an entertaining space as a need.

Do you have pets and how might you cater for their needs, especially rambunctious dogs and young plants?

Are there any other considerations relating to the wider landscape that you might need to consider, such as bushfire, heritage and tree overlays?

If you are considering built structures, contact your local council to find out their requirements regarding permits etc. And while you’re at it, ask for their list of garden weed plants in your area.

Movement throughout the space is a key aspect. Movement is not only important for navigation around the space, but should be factored in (eg the placement of paving stones) so that compaction of soil can be avoided, which affects soil drainage and nutrient uptake by plants.

The Design

We will now adjourn to the drawing table (a la kitchen table), with crude hand drawn plan with site measurements written on it, a site analysis, a firm idea of wants and needs, and a firm idea of limitations budget-wise.

Scale

All drawing from now on should be to scale. This means that the measurements on the paper must reflect actual membership but smaller scale. In landscape drawing we often work in the 1:100 (which means that 1 cm on the paper is equal to 100 centimetre on the ground. This is the same as saying the 1 cm on the paper is equal to 1 metre on the ground). 1:50 is also a common scale. This means that 1 cm on the paper is equal to 50 cm (or half a metre) on the ground. For even more detail, the 1:25 scale means that 1 cm on the paper is equal to only 25 centimetres on the ground.

A 1:50 scale is most often the best, as the plan can provide enough detail at this scale. For larger properties, many different drawings may need to be produced, including Shadow Diagrams and Section Elevations.

Scale rulers are available at office suppliers.

Paper

Tracing paper is good to work on, as you can put another sheet on top and quickly rework if necessary. Often it is available by the sheet in larger sizes too. The size of your garden and the scale you want to show will dictate the size of the paper!

What is the longest measurement on your rough drawn plan – maybe it’s the measurement from one end of the garden to the other? If it’s 15 metres that will be 30 cm on your paper if it’s at the 1:50 scale.

Other tools

There is a multitude of professional tools available but for the one-off (or maybe a couple-off) home design plans most of them can be avoided. A scale ruler can be handy but is not a necessity, cheaper drawing pens are quite suitable, and a template of scaled circles (as shown here) is mighty useful for drawing plants to the right diameter.

An H pencil, which is quite fine, is good for drawing on the tracing paper, whereas an HB or heavier leads 2B and 4B are good for sketching (this depends on personal preference too).

A bendable curve (also shown here) is useful for shaping curves.

And a triangle will help with right angles.

A drawing table like this portable one costs about $180, but even a smooth, clean and dry kitchen table will do the job.

Drawing

All those rough drawn lines with the measurements on them (refer to the illustration in Part 1), must now be transferred accurately to your paper.

This can be time consuming, depending on the level of detail and size of your garden. Draw up all the basic building and boundary measurements first.

Next, incorporate the elements you are keeping from your existing garden onto your new plan.

Trees and other elements that are staying must be put in the right spot and shown at the right size and dimensions. For existing trees, this means that your circle template reflects the actual spread of the canopy – or rather, the diameter of the canopy. This is important to help you gauge shading effects when placing your new plants and elements.

Keep your scale in mind when drawing. For example, when you are drawing your new deck, go outside and measure your new dimensions on the ground too and actually see the size of it.

Paths

Paths need not be all the one size, but consider how they are to be used. For example, you don’t want to make the access path to the shed very narrow as you need to be able to negotiate it with a wheelbarrow and tools spilling out.

Placing stuff

Consider the view out of your windows and what you will be looking at. You don’t want to spoil a potentially appealing view by sticking the new garden shed right in the way. And the same goes for artworks or focal points too. Think about where they will be viewed from – out of windows and when walking around the garden.

Consider utility

Consider how quickly and easily you need to get from one point to another. Sometimes we don’t just want to meander around, sometimes we are out there working, and easy access and speed can be a necessity.

Selecting Plants

At this stage think about the size of the plant and the look you want for a particular location, rather than the specific plant. For example, you have decided that along a path’s edge a groundcover that has yellow flowers most of the year would be ideal. In another area you are thinking that a shrub with grey foliage that will grow to a maximum of 2 metres will look great next to the existing native hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii) and its bright purple-blue flowers. You can write this briefly on your plan in light pencil to help remember what you have in mind.

When drawing in plan view, all you can show is the diameter of the plant, not its height. Using a thicker pen on the final drawing gives the illusion of a more dominant (bigger) plant. The diameter that’s shown on the plan is the plant’s diameter at maturity, not when it was first bought in the pot!

Special Elements

Adding a Rain Garden or designing a pond is one thing, but building them is quite another. Keep in mind your budget and capabilities when designing these sort of elements and structures. You may need to consider expert help, or even a builder for some of the built structures. Local councils have lots of information of this kind.

Plant Selection

A plant’s suitability for the job, the site and the position, is the rule for all plant selection in sustainable design. By this we mean that the plant will do what you want it to do (for example, provide shade or screening), its suitability for the climate and microclimate (for example, roses might be very suitable for your climate, but not if they will be sitting under full shade all summer long), and, most importantly, the soil.

Not only does wise plant selection make life easier from a maintenance point of view but it is a key to true sustainability. After all, many plants die simply because they are placed in the wrong spot or are not suited to the local soil characteristics (sandy, loamy, clay or combination soil).

In recent times, drought tolerance has been a key criteria for plant selection, and there’s no signs that this will change soon in (change to) various regions.

Weather patterns are a lot less predictable, nowadays. It’s becoming equally important to select plants that tolerate extreme conditions, ie. heavy rain, high winds, and severe heat, as well as drought. This need not impact on the style of garden, as plants tolerating extreme conditions can be found to suit all garden styles.

Weeds

An important point to remember is to avoid environmental weeds. Your local council should be able to provide you with a list of weeds that are a problem in your region. Otherwise, Google is a great resource! If you have any doubt, simply type the botanic name of the plant and check out Australian websites. If it’s a weed, it will come up on sites such as Weeds CRC, council sites and many others.

Another important issue is the state of your soil, especially if you are going to be creating your garden on a recent building site. If the topsoil has been lost and you are left with subsurface clay and the like, you will need to improve your soil well before planting. Recycled green waste compost and soil improvers are available in bulk and should be added to your soil months ahead of planting. This will allow time for worms and soil microflora to recolonise and create a more suitable planting environment.

Avoid importing topsoil, as this is usually from an unsustainable source. Try to work with the top-soil on site, as this can always be ameliorated and is teeming with important organisms (biota). A useful book on the subject of soils is Gardening Down-Under by Kevin Handreck (published by LandLinks).

Local Plants

Indigenous plants are plants that grow naturally in your area. They have evolved with the local climate and the soil, so are usually perfectly suited to your environment. However, if you have a recent building site and are looking at subsurface clay etc, as mentioned above, you will still need to improve your soil prior to planting.

There are many advantages to using local plants besides their ability to thrive in your garden. They are often low maintenance and thrive without the addition of fertilisers or pesticides and they provide food and shelter for native wildlife. There are indigenous plants to suit any style of garden, so you don’t have to have a bush garden if that doesn’t appeal to you. Do not remove indigenous plants from parks and bushland. Your local council should be able to provide you with information on nurseries that grow indigenous plants.

Native Plants

Native plants are Australian plants that aren’t necessarily from your area. Native plants can offer similar benefits to your garden as indigenous plants and once again, don’t necessarily dictate a bushland garden style. The book, The New Native Garden – Designing with Australian Plants by Paul Urquhart (published by New Holland Publishers) offers great suggestions on using native plants in any style of garden.

Do be careful, though, some native plants can be environmental weeds in your area. For example, Sydney Cootamundra Wattle (Acacia baileyana) is a weed in Victoria, and the beautiful Western Australian Blue Bell Creeper Sollya heterophylla is a weed in the eastern states (although Austraflora has developed a sterile variety that is not a weed – Sollya heterophylla x parviflora ‘Edna Walling Blue Bells’, shown here).

There is also information on the website of the Australian Native Plants Society (http://anpsa.org.au/).

Don’t assume, though, that because a plant is indigenous or native, it will be drought tolerant. Some are from riparian (waterway) environments, so are used to having ample available water. Indigofera australis (shown here), is an example. It is an elegant small shrub that is indigenous to all States of Australia. It is found naturally mainly in riparian environments and damp forests.

Exotic Plants

Exotic plants are plants from other countries. There are many suitable exotic plants that are drought tolerant species or are suitable for your site, but do check that the plant selected is not a weed in your area.

Mix and Match

There is no reason why you can’t incorporate a mixture of indigenous, native and exotic plants in your garden. Obviously if you are including a vegetable garden and fruit trees, then exotic plants will be necessary (although there is also the possibility of exploring bush tucker!).

Plant Placement – Plant Stacking and Hydro-Zoning

Be careful when placing plants that, over time, you won’t be shading areas that you don’t want shaded. This is especially important with regard to the northern aspect, as the sun is lower in the sky in winter and allowing winter sunshine into the house or corners of the garden is very desirable.

The other side of that is creating shade where it is required. Providing shade to western exposures is a good idea, so think about taller trees and shrubs here (where possible). Deciduous plants can be planted closer to the house, whereas evergreen trees need to be placed well away, to avoid casting shade in winter.

Consider competition between plants over time too (for sun, water, ventilation). You need to allow plenty of room between large trees and shrubs. Consider the size of the plant at maturity when drawing them on your plan.

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Another factor is to incorporate plant-stacking where larger trees or plants can create shade and wind-protection for shade-loving species. Similarly, plants can be zoned according to their water needs, so water isn’t wasted. Plants needing more H2O can be placed ‘down-slope’.

Also be mindful that you won’t be creating a future problem because you are placing a tree too close to a building or to drains. There are web-sites that will list trees with invasive roots, in your local area. And consider your neighbours too. Don’t plant large trees close to boundaries, without your neighbour’s consent, for example.

Site Details

Not only can the microclimate vary from one corner of the garden to another, but slope and proximity to buildings can also have a significant impact on plant success. For example, the south side of buildings is shaded for most of the year, and the western side can be shaded for most of the day and then suddenly be blasted by hot afternoon sun during summer.

Soil conditions under existing trees and under house eaves can be quite dry. Slope and depressions can also have an impact. Depressions will often be wetter most of the year, and the top of a slope is generally drier than the bottom.

Grow What Where (which also comes with a CD), by Natalie Peate, Gwenda Macdonald & Alice Talbot (published by Bloomings Books), is an excellent resource for selecting native plants for specific environments.

The Soft Landscape

The soft landscape includes plants, mulches and composts etc. Plant selection guides what soil preparation is needed and a lot of what else is required too. Many indigenous plants require little ground preparation, yet a vegetable garden requires considerable preparation, especially in poor soils. Vegetable gardens are often best built above the soil, using the No Dig Method of establishment and growing.

Indigenous and native plants benefit from a coarse mulch. Some prefer gravel mulches, or light loose leaf litter, so ensure you know the requirements of the plants you are putting in.

Most soils will benefit from the addition of compost and for plants where soil improvement is necessary, it would be wise to consider adding the compost weeks or even months ahead of planting. There’s more information on soil preparation in SGA’s Information Pages, under Soil Health.

What you now need to work out is just how much of everything you need. For those of you who have forgotten your school maths, the following formulas are the ones of most importance! Working out volumes of mulch and the like becomes very easy (especially with a calculator!).

Area of a square (and rectangle): l x w (l = length, w = width)

Area of a circle: π x r2 (π = pi, which = 3.141 – if you have an electronic calculator, π will be on it as the symbol, so you don’t need to type in the actual numbers, r = radius)

Area of a triangle: (b x h)/2 (b = base, h = height)

If you need more of an explanation of these formulas, a good webpage is: http://math.about.com/

You can use a combination of mostly squares, rectangles and circles to work out the area of garden beds on your design. These formulas only give you the area, the other variable is depth. And depth depends on what you need. For example, to work out how much mulch to order for garden beds, work out the area of all the beds. Now, we usually like mulch to be up to 70mm in depth, so we multiply the area by the depth of 70mm. Be careful with units and decimal points.

For example, if all the areas of garden bed give a total of about 180m2, then the volume of mulch required will be 180 x .07 (notice the decimal point has moved because we are working in units of metres). The total is 12.6 cubic metres (m3), but when ordering you would probably go up to 13 or maybe even 15 – to round it off (many of us often add another cubic metre or so for good measure!).

You will need to go through the same procedure for all materials.

And another couple of formulas that are very useful are the volume of a cylinder (see graphic left) and the volume of a cube (see graphic right). Both or either will be useful if you have included a lot of large pots in the design, as you will be able to work out how much potting media to purchase.

Volume of a cylinder: π x r2 x h Volume of a cube: l x w x h

The Hard Landscape

The hard landscape is essentially anything that’s not the soft landscape! The soft landscape includes the plants, mulch and composts etc. and was discussed above.

We’re left with decking, paving, walls, and essentially the built components of a landscape. This can be a tricky area for the inexperienced or untrained, and there are some very important issues to consider before you tackle building structures or hard landscaping.

Material Selection

Selecting the materials you want can be time consuming alone, with the amount of product available out there. But to try to make an informed decision based on environmental criteria, adds a whole other dimension!

Here’s a guide:

Where does the material come from? Local products require less transport, chain of custody/forest stewardship is easier to establish, and local products have less impact on greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts.

Avoid rainforest timber. (There is always a sustainable replacement.)

Use plantation grown timber or bamboo from a sustainable source.

Look for radially sawn timber, as this technique produces more timber per log.

Consider recycled products where possible (eg reclaimed bricks.)

Consider recycling existing material. (For example, concrete can be sent to a recycler and turned into crushed rock which can be reused on site. Crushed bricks can be used as back-fill for walls.)

Where do those pebbles come from? Are they mined without control in Asia? Or are they at least mined from a controlled source locally.

Consider the urban heat island effect and wind-turbulence factor. The greater the proportion of hard surfaces you build, the lower the heat absorption by vegetative bio-mass that can occur and the harsher the wind-factor may be. Also, by reducing area for vegetation, you reduce the potential for ground-water cleaning, stormwater filtration and carbon uptake, as well.

Factor in the amount of hard surface cleaning and maintenance you wish to do. Outdoor walling and decking can require regular cleaning, sanding and staining.

Finally, consider allowing for permeable areas such as crazy paving/cobble-stones/stepping stones with space for vegetation, rather than an en masse area of non-permeable paving.

Know When NOT to DIY

Know your limitations! Simple paving may be well within most people’s scope of ability but unless you have training in bricklaying, paving, etc, think seriously about the outcome. The hard landscape is the most expensive element of a landscape. It’s also the most obvious, so a shabby job will permanently detract from the overall look.

There are safety issues inherent in built elements too. We’ve all heard horror stories of DIY walls falling over.

Training is obviously an option. There are plenty of short courses available through TAFE and the like, which will ensure you develop enough technique to create the more modest aspects of hard landscapes.

There are times, though, when it is compulsory to bring in professionals, so be mindful of building regulations. Contact your local Council for information on their requirements, rules and regulations.

Council permits and insurance are required on building projects over a certain amount (depending on where you are), so this also needs to be investigated. Contact your local council for more information to ensure your landscaping project does not breach local laws and regulations.

Be mindful of easements on your property (refer to the title plan), as it is illegal to build over easements.

Dial Before You Dig (1100) is an essential service to contact prior to any major excavations. Dial Before You Dig advise as to where underground services are located on your property.

Costs

Even if you don’t feel confident about building the hard landscape, there is research you can undertake that will help you keep an eye on costs. Ascertaining the amount of paving and decking required uses the same formulae as used to estimate soft landscape materials, except that you don’t need to work out depth! Suppliers can often help you work out the costs of decking and paving based simply on the area. Get several quotes for materials, as this will help to ensure you are getting the best price.

Water Features

Water features in a sustainable garden are ideally designed and constructed to increase biodiversity. Attracting frogs to your garden is an especially satisfying reward for creating suitable habitat. Frogs are not only interesting critters to have around but they also devour huge quantities of mosquitoes, flies and other insects.

There are a number of pre-made fibreglass ponds that can be simply dug into place. Edges and base can be hidden and the pond softened with the inclusion of rocks and pebbles. Another simple method of construction is to excavate a suitable sized hole and lay pond liner in it. The edges and base are also hidden with rocks and pebbles. When designing for a pond, it’s a good idea to consider utilising the natural slope of your block, wherever possible. Although you may wish to compromise that if you particularly want your pond in a specific place in your garden.

Placed in lower areas of your garden, the pond may be fed naturally by runoff rainwater, but the other advantage is that the surrounding ground will stay damp. This makes perfect frog habitat because Australian frogs don’t live in water all the time. In fact, they are used to their watery habitat drying out during summer and so take to the shelter of lush grasses and plants.

Pond Features

A frog pond can incorporate one or all of the requirements for each part of the frogs’ lifecycle.

Damp bog zone for adult frogs.

Shallow water zone for laying eggs.

Deep zone of at least 300mm for tadpoles.

Your frog garden should also have:

Soft, thick vegetation that droops into the water, for shelter and protection

Rocks, logs, bark and leaf litter

Mostly shade

Sloping sides for frogs to crawl out

Been made from non-toxic materials (concrete ponds will need to be sealed and plastic ponds be made of food-grade plastic)

Food plants for tadpoles (and they will eat them, so don’t put your prize waterlily in there!)

Frog-Friendly Plants

Frog-friendly plants include the following: Grasses: Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), Weeping Grass (Microleana stipoides) or Wallaby Grass (Austrodanthonia spp.)

Tufting plants: Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthus spp.) or Black-anther Flax-lily (Dianella revoluta)

Bog plants: Soft Water Fern (Blechnum minus), Thatch Saw-sedge (Gahnia radula), Knobby Club-Rush (Ficinia nodosa), Grassy Mat-rush (Lomandra confertifolia) and Tassel Cord Rush (Restio tetraphyllus) – this is also suitable for planting in water.

Plants for Ponds

There are lots of native water plants that are suitable for garden ponds. These include Villarsia (Marsh Flower) and Marsilea drummondii (Nardoo). The following books also contain information on Australian water plants:

Aquatic and Wetland Plants, by Nick Romanowski, 1998, published by the University of New South Wales Press (UNSWP).

Australian Native Plants, by John W. Wrigley and Murray Fagg, 1996, published by Reed New Holland.

There are many exotic water plants that are terrible environmental weeds, so be very discerning when you buy, and do a bit of research. Other commonly used water plants include: Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), Tassel Sedge (Carex fascicularis), Jointed Twig-rush (Baumea articulata) and Water Ribbons (Triglochin procerum).

Things to Avoid

Most fish will eat tadpoles.

Tadpoles and eggs can be killed by fountain pumps.

Cats and dogs will often hunt and kill frogs. Protect the frog area of your garden with sharp, spiky plants.

Pesticides and herbicides. Frogs eat insects, so you don’t want to spray them. And frogs are very sensitive to chemicals, so you can’t have both.

Fertiliser runoff.

Allowing duckweed or Azolla to cover the top of the pond as it reduces the oxygen available to tadpoles.

Cleaning out the pond too often. Tadpoles need some material to be breaking down in the pond water to provide food for them.

Collecting tadpoles from the wild. It is illegal in most parts of Australia. It’s also unnecessary. If you provide the right habitat, they will find you!

More information on particular topics that interest you can be found using the Search function on this site.

Photo: Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni) courtesy of Viridans [external_footer]

source https://livingcorner.com.au/landscaping-for-sustainability-sustainable-gardening-australiahow-to-create-a-native-australian-gardenhttps-www-sgaonline-org-au-wp-content-uploads-2018-08-design2-1920-jpg21/

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nanlanmoarchived · 2 years ago

Text

thefreak-86:

Eddie threw out his hand for Jessica to take, but he could see the turmoil in her as to whether she should escape with him or not. Despite his hand still being held out for her, Eddie threw her a look of mock disapproval. “C’mon, you’re gonna have forever to get that perfect attendance in. Let’s ditch!” he egged her on, eyes sparkling with mischief. When she finally agreed, Eddie let out a gleeful giggle, snatching her hand into his & stole toward the wood. His eyes fell momentarily on the bench set in the middle of a clearing. If only he knew then what he knew now, Chrissy might actually still be alive. He took a breath to steady himself before carrying on deeper into the woods. It was a lot of twists & turns, and helping Jessica over some more precarious looking logs despite the fact that she probably wouldn’t & couldn’t get hurt, she still seemed fragile in his mind. He stopped at different points, checking to make sure he was stealing the right way, letting go of her hand to look under rocks & inside rotten trees. Inside one of them, he’d found a bag contain products of some kind, which he quickly shoved into the deep of his pocket. “We’re on the right track.” he confirmed. It wasn’t before long that the pair of them ended up on roadside. Eddie looked left, then right, then back to Jessica “Right. I just realised, I have no idea where your house is. But I do know we are far away from Hawkins High for them to even bother looking for us.” he gave the girl a bright smile, pleased with himself that they’d managed to escape. “You’re more than welcome to come find me. Not like I’m going to graduate any time soon, so.” he shrugged, teasing.

Good Lord this boy was just trying to make her fall in love with him. From the way his eyes lit up with excitement when he took her hand as they ran off for the tree line of the forest to the way he was so careful to help her through the maze of the woods, she was back to feeling like the teenaged girl she masqueraded as in the hallways of the school. She watched Eddie curiously as he looked for whatever landmarks stood out to him, for all she knew of this area, he could’ve been leading her anywhere but she trusted him. She nodded as his confirmation and followed closely until they emerged on the roadside. Jessica glanced in each direction, gathering her bearings a moment as he decreed them free of the school’s watchful eyes. Giddy excitement bubbled through the girl and she couldn’t help the laugh, “Don’t worry, I’ll bug Bill to teach me a little more about those mind control powers he says we have and then you’ll be top of the class.” She grinned, lacing her fingers through his as she nodded ahead, “Come on, it’s this way.” Once the roadway was clear she tugged him across and towards the trail she sometimes took when she wanted a longer walk home. Coming home to a quiet house was something the redhead was still learning to be okay with, so she was grateful for the clear path lined with trees that reminded her of home. Given their adventurous hike off school grounds, this part was quick and easy, the trail giving way to the backyard of the house Bill had purchased for them when they arrived. The home was the picture of suburbia, though rather than being tightly packed into the neighborhood rows, their home sat on a larger plot of land. The neighbor’s houses could be seen in the distance, over the hedge lined to either side, but for the most part, the two-story house stood on its own. “Bill doesn’t like people bein’ able to look in, especially since he’s up most nights. Accordin’ to him, nothin’ is a better tell of a vampire than lights on all hours of the night.” It was only as they approached the kitchen door on the side of the house that she let go of Eddie’s hand to fish through her bag for her keys, “Welcome to Compton Manor 2.0.” She mused as she pushed the door open, dropping her bag on the kitchen table along with her keys. “Make yourself at home.”

#v; new monster in town #thefreak-86 #otp; sweet sweet heartkiller { Eddie }

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eandamj · 5 years ago

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Mont Tremblant - 13-14 September 2019

After a splendid pancake breakfast to celebrate a birthday, we drove from Ottawa to Mont Tremblant in lovely sunshine on Friday morning. The scenery was lovely with forests everywhere which are turning to autumn colours. On the recommendation of our friends, Paula & Tom, we broke our journey at Montebello, which is a pretty village with an interesting hotel. We went to have lunch and a wander around the Fairmont Montebello. This is a beautifully constructed building of wooden logs.

The interior was lovely and reminded us of the original lodge in Yellowstone National Park near Old Faithful.

We walked around the pleasant grounds of the hotel which has great views across a lake.

We also noted that the hotel runs a LandRover driving experience which is of interest for family reasons. We then proceeded to Mont Tremblant. There is quite a large area known as Mont Tremblant with an area full of hotels and shops around the ski lifts which comprises the centre of the ski resort. This is where we are staying for two nights. We had a wander around the ski area and found we were in the middle of a major cycling event and given the weekend, there were lots of families arriving to enjoy the many entertainment venues eg luge, escape room, VR, laser quest etc and many hill walks available. Here is one of the streets:

We had a birthday celebratory dinner.

This morning we awoke to drizzly rain. We decided to proceed to do one of the woodland walks which was lovely. We saw some great Autumn colours.

The walk enabled us to get a great view of the ski area with Lac Tremblant despite the rain clouds.

As well passing various woodland activities like zip lines and an assault course open at night, we also walked past lots of waterfalls feeding streams through the woods.

As the rain has been on and off all day. We decided not to go up the mountain on the gondola as there would have been no view. We will do that tomorrow morning if the weather improves ahead of travelling to Montreal.

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lilleputtu · 1 year ago

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More business!

#sims 2 #ts2 #the sims 2 #ts2: Edona's Glade #eg lot: The Logging Forest #eg sim: Murie Pike #eg sim: Leo Pike #eg sim: Georgia Newson #eg sim: Angela Pleasant #eg sim: Annabel of Melora's Grace

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clans-of-the-sea · 7 years ago

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Tomorrow Comes Today

A small black kitten padded along the alleyway, the round stones under paw making him wince. Tiny claws clicked against the ground, and it was a bit reassuring. He could always defend himself. Ears flattened as he tried to see if there was any movement around here though, a crow nearby or even other abandoned unfortunate souls. So far, he saw nothing…. though he wasn’t dumb enough to think he was ever alone.

Ears perked as he heard a small clicking noise. Eyes caught lamp light, a bright emerald green and a curious baby blue turned and looked up at the small No-Fur sitting on a box and moving their paw awkwardly. Slowly, the small kit bumbled forward. This was what he had been waiting for! He let out a tiny cry and walked around the giant hind paws of the No-Fur, looking up as a gentle brown hand leaned down and ran down his back. It was…. comforting.

There was a garble of words, and he perked his ears to focus.

“…. Murdoc…..” That was a word he didn’t recognize. But he knew it, it was his name….!

——+——

Awkward long legs chased after the Cloud before him, the smaller tom trying to speed up whenever Marley hopped over a branch or log that littered their forest. “Marley…! Wait up…!” He huffed, losing his breath.

“You’re going to need to get faster Murdoc. Your brothers and sisters are training just as hard, and your Royal isn’t that far away. You’re still smaller then them!” Marley slowed though, waiting until the Shadow caught up to him before nuzzling the top of his head. “…. You can’t afford to take it easy Murdoc. Not if you want to make it past drawing First Blood.”

Murdoc was catching his breath, looking at awkwardly large paws and licking his maw. “…. It’s just because I was the Easy Blood.”

“There’s no ‘was’ about it. You’re still the smallest one…” Marley shook his head as he flicked the smaller with his tail. “…. You’ll have to keep working harder then the others, you know that, don’t you? You’re smart, but that wont be enough.”

Murdoc scrunched his nose, mismatched eyes looking up at Marley. “…. Can’t we just take a small break? We can go back out later….”

“…. Okay.” Marley sighed and started back towards the camp. He looked sad, like he was seeing something bad far far away…. Murdocs tail twitching, and he tried to think about the Royal he would be in. Danny wasn’t much bigger then him, she would probably go down really easy. Cassy wasn’t a big fan of Dommer, she would probably go for their longer brother first and he’d let her. …. Hannibal was the biggest of them all though.

The tom padded into camp with his tail trailing behind him. A large dark molly pushed his way past Murdoc to head out for hunting and he jumped aside. Stormy grunted on her way to hunt, ignoring her kit completely. Which shouldn’t have been surprising, she had never really doted on any of them but… there was something about it that felt wrong.

“Don’t worry 'bout it Murdoc. Go get some rest.” Marley purred as he nudged his little Shadow, pointing to a good shaded spot. He curled up tight, feeling some glances his way but ignored them until he drifted to sleep. He was sure he’d get chance to rest for awhile, but woke with hardly any time passed to two large figured in front of him.

“Get out of my spot!” Murdoc bristled, hissing as one of the offender swiped a massive paw at him. He was knocked back, pinned between the two toms and the wall behind him.

“I was here first!”

“Well I was born first!” The second figure, hardly any smaller then the first, jumped forward and scrabbled with the smaller black cat, hind legs kicking into his lower belly and knocking any remaining air out of him when he dragged Murdoc from the nest.

“Enough!” A she-cats voice called out, a fluffy dappled coat and small ears ran forward, Sally grabbing Hannibals scruff and pulling him off his smaller brother. “That’s enough! Shadows still in training are not to fight! Not until the Royal!”

Hannibal growled at the Night Consort, turning and looking to the tom who had egged him on. Sally knocked her shoulder into the Shadow though, snapping at him to find another place to rest. “Murdoc, go see Lana. No need get an infection this close to your Royal.”

The dark tom glared at the large tabby brute who was Hannibal’s Cloud before bounding across the camp. Lana was there waiting for him, small ears perked and short tail twitching. “….. Pay no mind to Salem, Murdoc.”

“It’s not fair! He shouldn’t be training Hannibal!”

“Anyone is allowed to choose a Shadow.”

“He shouldn’t! He’s spiteful and cruel!”

“…. That’s why he had first pick.” Lana shook her head, sighing as she looked the scratches down his side over. “… You’ll leave. Keep them clean and you’ll be fine.”

——+——

“Murdoc, you’re late.” Marley was sitting in the woods near one of the beaches, ears perked as his Shadow padded towards him. “Where have you-….” He frowned, growing silent as he saw who was walking with the lanky black tom.

Jitterbug was escorting the small tom, grumbling. Marley knew that Murdoc was supposed to be training with the Moon Court this morning, to prove he was ready for his Royal tomorrow and shouldn’t just be chased out now. However the weird angle the young black toms nose pointed made him shiver.

“Your Shadow…” The Half Moon was clearly trying to restrain his anger. “Was truant, tried pulling a prank on Archer, and has the behavior of a Forgotten Blood! He was trying to mock animal noises, scared them away, and has a pointless, malicious humor.” He reported, claws digging into the ground. “He’s an appalling Shadow, and a stupid imbecile who hardly paid any attention!”

“He… has wonderful charisma. He’s bright - he’ll make a good liar!” Marley attempted to stand up for his Shadow. A good liar had a good poker face, could make good bets!

“Sounds more like skills for the Forgotten.” Jitterbug threatened, fur fluffed as he walked away from the two.

Marley turned on the young tom, eyes closed. “…. What happened?”

“It was all Curly!” He was quick to snap, fur bristled. “He called me useless, and a waste of space! Said I’d be better off in the No-Fur place!” He was talking funny, and the Cloud looked over his muzzle closely.

“Did Lana see this?” Murdoc snorted.

“She said it looked funny, and to keep it out of everyone else’s business….”

Marley did seem upset by this, but only shook his head. “…. Lets see what we can do…”

Murdoc followed the tom closely. “One day I’m doing to be the Moon Father, and I’m not gonna let my kits run a muck like Jack does!”

“You’ll be lucky to live past your Royal at this rate. No doubt by now Salems caught word. He’all be training Hannibal with extra hard. And Curly will make sure Dommer is going to handle you.” It wasn’t malicious, it was a warning to be on guard. Even still, Murdoc did not seem swayed.

“Well I’m not going to die! If anything I’ll get off this island and be free of all these dumb rules and the dumb Moon Court.”

——+——

He had been lucky. That’s what everyone was saying anyway. Lucky. Lucky that he had taken injured Cassys leg so she’d be weak the rest of the match. Lucky Danny took Cassy out. Lucky Danny saw him as a force to team up with. Lucky the two of them killed Dommer. Lucky Hannibal went to finish Danny off. Lucky Hannibal had been too tired from fighting Dommer and Danny to kill Murdoc right away. Lucky.

Seemed like an awful lot of luck for coincidences. Marley even looked proud as he brushed his muzzle a last time. The boat was taking off, and he had to be on it. The Waxing Moon Peanut had given him his mission; to meet with the older Forgotten Bloods and check in on the mainland Skies, or nicknamed “Storm Clouds”.

The ride across the water was soothing. He had lived. He had healed….. sort of. During the fight against Hannibal his nose had gotten messed up again - and after he and his littermate regained consciousness Salem had made it worse by batting him across his snout. It still stung but the fact it could sting - the fact he was alive - was amazing…..!

Billy Boy, a much older Forgotten, met him when the boat docked and led Murdoc into the town they’d be residing in. He seemed to be ‘in charge’, and even invited Murdoc to watch a fight sometime. It seemed rather boring, following and listening to Billy Boy; it was hardly a change from the island…

So Murdoc invested in other ways. The young tom moved among the crowds on nights of the fights, making bets and showing a move or two that was meant to kill quick and efficiently. Apparently these mainland Storm Clouds didn’t get training, they were merely recruited…. So his offers were taken with a grain of salt. Some even spat at him for acting better than them. Which he was. He knew a good many ways to kill them and they’d just bat at his face!

Even still, he managed to find a group he did like. Tiny, Crunch, Rocky, and Munch seemed to know the best way to enjoy freedom. Fight, find pretty she-cats in fancy fenced yards, make smaller cats catch your food for you, and find the places that had that really good smelling plant!

All good things had to come to an end though, and Murdoc wasn’t any happy when one morning some broad Watchman dragged him to the island. He wasn’t sure what to expect; he was sure he was supposed to make some sort of plea to Jack and Sally, but he didn’t think he wanted to come back…

He froze when he padded into camp and spotted Hannibal, the big dark cat dragging Jack out of camp. Dead. His eyes turned to spot a small molly, belly a little bigger to show how well fed she was, clean and looking pleased with herself as she looked around the camp.

He remembered her as a kit. Her litter had had a Royal before his. Normally Stars did not have Royals but Sally’s last litter had a lot of stigma of not being Jacks, and a point had to be made.

Binx was that point.

She had been an Easy Blood like him; runt of the litter and all three of Sally’s kits had been tormented by the Moon Court, Jack included, leading up to their Royal. It appeared the molly had ended Jacks reign over her…. in a way he that as almost proud. Good for her.

Mismatched eyes followed to where Lana, Curly, Archer, Jitterbug and Peanut stood. Sally was nowhere to be seen….

“Murdoc.” The dark tom turned and looked to where Binx was, spotting the ghostly white figure next to her. Casper. “Murdoc, I hear Billy Boy is dead.”

“Word travels fast for you.” He snorted. “He only passed last night. Old fugger.”

She didn’t seem amused. “…. We’re sending a young tom named Titus with you back to the mainland. You’ll be leading the Storm Clouds.”

Well this ceremony was certainly short. Wasn’t he supposed to greet the new Moon Bitsh by name and see who she chose as her Court? Though looking at how relaxed her older ‘siblings’ looked they would probably remain as her Court for now….

“Don’t worry Murdoc. We’ll invite you back when the court is properly filled.” Binds smirk made him roll his eyes. He crossed the camp and spotted the fluffy tom who would be joining him on the ferry. At least he could get out of here.

#murdoc #September contest #writings #stories #rogues #black skies #submission

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themothyards · 8 years ago

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Hello readers,

A long, long while back, I mentioned in passing that I’d once written a very long Pokémon story. This happened well before I knew what fan fiction was (not that I have a clue now), and it was my first attempt at writing something in someone else’s universe. I’ve always liked how goddamn weird Pokémon is, and at the egging-on of some friends a very short story turned into a nearly-200 page novella.

I recently shared said story with a fellow Tumblr user, who encouraged me to put it on the internet (it has been living on my hard drive for a long while now). Then she encouraged me some more - badgered me, really - and finally I gave in.

So, as some sort of early celebration of International Fanworks Day (which is a thing?), as well as to suggest an activity for anyone who’s not doing anything else on Valentine’s Day (sure, there’s some romance in the story), I’ve thrown the whole thing up on Ao3, which is a website I’m about as familiar with as I am with the science behind stellar nucleosynthesis, which is a word I had to look up just now.

It’s called The Perils of Living; a title that only got invented today, when I realized it needed a title (it’s always been called “the pokéfic”). Here’s the back-of-the-book blurb:

Niall, Rob, and Julietta are unassuming couriers, running jobs for the Pokémon Professors in the region. That is, until they're tasked with a special delivery and get caught up in something they don't understand. With a shadowy organization following them, bent on doing whatever it takes to obtain what they carry, they'll have to rely on each other and on the strength of their Pokémon to keep them alive.

That's harder than it sounds when everyone's got secrets - especially when some of those secrets could tear apart the fragile camaraderie that Niall, Rob, and Julietta have come to depend upon. Turns out the past never stays buried, and the future's never set in stone.

I’d be honored if you took the time to read it, which you can do by clicking this link.

Cordially,

The Mothyards

The first chapter is under the cut.

Chapter 1

“Don’t you think,” I said, “there was something strange about that Joy?”

I dropped my hand from Rapidash’s cheek and turned to Rob, who sat on the ground unrolling his sleeping mat.

Rapidash snorted at me and I went back to scratching her behind the ear.

“What do you mean?”

Rob doesn’t notice much about the Sisters aside from the bust size.

“She was kinda…glitchy.”

“She seemed normal to me.”

“You’re hardly a reliable source.” Rapidash nuzzled my side, probing for treats. “Sorry, you ate everything. No apples until we hit Pallet Town.”

“Any idea why we have to go back there?” Rob stretched out and leaned against his pack.

“Aurea wouldn’t say. Wanted to meet in person.”

“Ehhh. Don’t you ever get sick of the Professor?”

“I owe her,” I said, looking up at the stars. “For a lot of things. You know that. I thought you liked her.”

“Of course I do, but sometimes I dream of being more than an errand boy.” He sighed. “Even so, nothing wrong with money.”

I snorted in agreement. Money was one thing we could always use more of. Rob, especially. He was usually level-headed, but most of what he earned from our inconsistent contracts was spent immediately. Food was always the biggest drain, but Rob keeps a pretty nice apartment back in Ecruteak City, and he drinks more than I do, which is saying something – and when Rob drinks, he gets generous. Get generous, and you’re asking for folks to take advantage of you. He doesn’t seem to mind much, especially when he gets to spend his time with pretty ladies. Even if they’re clones. But who am I to judge? You want to lust after a genetically-engineered peacekeeper, I’m not gonna stand in your way.

We were all hoping that Aurea had something good - or at least something that paid well. Work was slow, and our Pokémon were looking lean. Back when I was growing up, we all used to dream about running massive teams – you know, gotta catch ‘em all– but the TV doesn’t tell you how much it costs to run a healthy team of even six. A lot, that’s how much. Food isn’t free, and when you’re out in the field, trust is worth more than your ‘Dex count – and trust is hard to split in a team bigger than you can carry. A lot of folks make the mistake of thinking the monsters are just that – dumb animals – and there’s an equal number of folks who’ve found that mistake to be fatal, in one way or another.

“When are you gonna tell that horse how you really feel?” Rob jerked me back into awareness and I tossed my canteen at his head. He caught it, and drank.

“Sorry. Just thinking.”

“Been a while since we’ve been back there.”

“Yeah.”

“I bet nothing’s changed.”

“Nothing ever changes there.”

Julietta poked her head out of her sleeping sack.

“Are you two going to let me sleep?”

“Sorry,” I said, and Rob grunted.

“I, for one, will be happy to lie down in a bed,” said Julietta. “And to not have to listen to you idiots yap all night. It’s bad enough that I have to use a log as a pillow.”

Rob laughed. “Oh, come on. What would you do without us?”

“Sleep more,” she said, turning over again.

I gave Rapidash one last pat on the muzzle and sat down next to the fire. She whinnied, and I raised my hands in apology. She’s happier out of stasis, so most nights I leave her free.

“Jules, you really think you’d be happier back in Cerulean without us?”

“’Course I would,” she said, and I smiled. Julietta is as prickly as her Gengar, but we all know it’s an act. The three of us have been together for two years now, running jobs for a lot of the Pokémon professors in the region – transport, usually; sometimes something a bit more delicate. Nothing illegal, strictly speaking, but we’re known for being unassuming.

We work well together. I met Rob as a teen, back when we were in the Academy together, and we’ve more or less stuck together since. Julietta started out as a traveling companion who we picked up in Cerulean City, and two years later she’s as much a part of the team as anyone. Never told us why she was so desperate to leave Cerulean, and we’ve never prodded. I think she’s got family there, so that’s probably part of it. Secrets come with the territory, and I’ve got my fair share.

The heat from the fire was pleasant. Autumn was well established, and it wouldn’t be long before we had our first taste of winter. We had made it over the pass and into Pewter City just in time, but it would be snowing already in the North. We’d been up there only once before, a little over a year ago - running potions through Sinnoh and into a small town at the base of Mount Coronet. A small job (we were broke), but we got caught unprepared in an early blizzard. My fire-types kept us warm enough, but it was Jules’ psychic barriers that really saved us. Even Rob was impressed, and he’s a tough sell. We had thought she was something of a pushover; a little girl running from a broken home, maybe – but she was training some high-level shit, and Espeons, let alone Gengar, aren’t known for being agreeable.

Rob sat up and tossed the canteen back at me. It fell short, skidding in the dirt in front of where I sat.

“We could always pass on the job.” Rob has an uncanny way of reading my mind.

“I thought you never turned down money.”

“Money isn’t everything,” he said, and shrugged. I laughed.

“What would your admirers say if you denied them gifts?”

“I’ve got enough natural charm to carry me through.”

“It’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re staying long. Besides, I haven’t been back in ages.”

“Your mother will be happy to see you.”

I frowned.

“Did you tell her you were headed back?”

I shook my head once. Rob sighed, leaned back again.

“You going to?”

“Seriously,” said Julietta from somewhere inside her bag, “Will you two shut up?” I threw the canteen at her, and was rewarded with a curse. Julietta sat up, glaring at me.

“Does Gengar need to make an appearance?” Gengar’s hypnosis has come in useful in the past, and not all of Julietta’s threats are empty.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said, and Julietta lay back down with a huff.

We were silent for a while. Then Julietta’s voice crept over the campfire. “You should tell her. Family’s important.”

I didn’t answer, but instead thought back to the glitchy Joy in Pewter City, whom we had met after scrambling down out of the mountains into Kanto. I don’t usually take notice of the Sisters’ engineered personalities, but some things I can’t ignore. She kept repeating herself, asking who we were and where we had come from in that upbeat, smiling voice that they all have. Seemed that Rob and Julietta had been too busy restocking to notice.

The Jennies and the Joys were useful; there was no denying that. They were largely the reason we’d enjoyed such a long period of peace, but I’ve never been all that comfortable around the Sisters. Some people worship them – Rob being one example – but their beauty’s a tool and that makes me worry. That’s not to say they’ve ever been anything less than perfectly wonderful to me, just as they’re meant to, but I suppose I can’t help myself.

I rolled my sleeping sack out on top of my mat and crawled into it. The night was quiet, the stars were out, and the crisp air felt wonderful. Even so, I couldn’t sleep. The thought of going home bothered me. I hadn’t spoken to my mother in two years. I shivered and drove the thought from my mind. We were still days from Pallet Town, and there’d be time to think about it in the morning.

A Noctowl hooted somewhere in the woods. We had made it to the outskirts of Viridian Forest, and the trees cast long shadows in the moonlight. I rolled over. Rob was still leaning against his pack, the firelight playing across his face. He had no reason to avoid Pallet Town. We’d been there before, together, and he’d even met my mother. He liked Professor Ventus too; I knew that – even if he liked to complain about her. I liked her too, and I did owe her. So, when she said she had work for us, it wasn’t really an offer I could refuse. I like to repay my debts.

No, Rob was just looking out for me. He does that, and I try to do it for him. We’ve had our disagreements, but we’ve been friends for a long time and that wouldn’t be the case if we had anything against one another. Really, it said something about Julietta that she had fit in with the two of us so easily. We weren’t an easy pair to approach – “Lazy, cynical drunkards,” Aurea had called us once (Rob was the lazy one, while I provided the cynicism; the two of us being more or less equivalent in drunkenness) – but Julietta was the type to hold her own anywhere, and we respected that. Rob and I are friendly enough, and when she asked if she could accompany us on our way through Sinnoh we didn’t need a lot of convincing. Rob can’t turn down a pretty face, and I was glad for the company. It helped that her team complemented ours, and that she was a talented trainer – as we learned later. It takes a strong will to use ghost- and psychic-types.

On top of that, she had a kind of link with her Pokémon that I’d never seen before. They could communicate without speaking – not just her and her Alakazam, no; all of her Pokémon shared some kind of psychic space with her. It was unnerving at first, but we got used to it before long - jealous, too. Came with the Pokémon, I guess - can’t ever put your finger on the psychic trainers.

I had it pretty good. I didn’t mind being broke half the time. I had enough to get by. I liked my freedom, and you don’t have to pay to sleep under the stars. I had a couple of close friends, a strong team, and Pokémon I trusted. Rob had asked if I dreamed of being more than an errand boy, but that’s not how I thought of myself. Freelancer, I’d have said, with many interests. Sure, I had some lingering family issues, but who doesn’t?

Sometimes the night makes everything seem so simple, and it was with a smile on my face that I drifted off to sleep.

***

The next morning was beautiful. Golden light filtered down between the boughs of the trees, and we could see our breath in the air. I shivered after giving up the warmth of my sleeping bag, but once I had packed it and my mat away I was comfortably warm in the autumn sun. Julietta got a fire going and started a pot of coffee with the water from one of her canteens.

“Coffee?” I said, surprised. Julietta’s not usually one to hang around in the mornings.

“Not like we’re in a rush,” she said, “and it makes me feel human. You don’t need to drink it.”

I tossed her my battered metal mug, and she obliged me by filling it. Her Espeon was curled around her feet, looking at me with its odd purple eyes. Espeon was like Rapidash, and favored walking with us. The three of us were different from most trainers, and I suppose our Pokémon were different as well. Most of them preferred the open air to stasis, Rob’s team being the exception. Steel- and ground-types are stubborn, and Rob’s happened to like being carried. His Skarmory preferred the skies, though, and I could see her wheeling overhead, feathers glinting in the sun, as I wandered over to where Rapidash grazed beneath a tree.

She looked up as I approached and whinnied a hello. I stroked her neck, the flames tickling my hand. Rapidash has burned me before, especially when she was still a Ponyta and we were just getting to know each other. But I’ve had her longer than any of my Pokémon, and she’s as close a friend as Rob or Julietta.

I released Ninetales, and he raised his head and yawned at me before trotting over to sniff Rapidash’s nose. She sniffed him back and, greeting completed, Ninetales made his way to the campfire where Rob was getting breakfast ready. I’ve known Ninetales since he was a kit, and we run pretty deep. For that matter, all of my Pokémon are pretty tightly knit. They’re fire-types, mostly. Rob carries a steel and ground team, and Julietta trains ghost- and psychic-types, which is pretty rare. She’s also got a Houndoom, which she released Ninetales snuffled over to her.

I had been worried the first time Julietta told us she had a Houndoom, since they’re notoriously territorial and I wasn’t sure how it would get on with Ninetales, but ever since they met, the fox and the hound have been as thick as thieves. Even as I watched, the two of them bounded off into the forest to hunt for breakfast.

Some trainers try to divide their focus between huge type variations, which sound great on paper and can work well in the officially sanctioned tourneys, but most people tend to stick with types they know. That’s what the three of us do. It’s an instinctual thing. Rob’s a solid guy, and he uses solid Pokémon. Julietta’s as slick as her Espeon, and me – well, I don’t know what I am. I’ve always been drawn to the arcane, and fire’s nothing if not arcane – and unpredictable. We were lucky that our teams got on so well with each other.

I walked back to the fire. Rob had a pot of porridge going, and handed me a bowl without a word. I sat down next to Julietta and scratched Espeon behind the ears. She arched her neck into my hand and blinked once in appreciation.

“Sleep well?” I asked the group at large.

Julietta arched her own back, mirroring Espeon.

“After you two stopped talking, yeah.”

“Forgive us,” Rob said. “But I guess can’t blame you. You certainly need the beauty sleep.”

Julietta chucked her empty bowl at his head while he laughed. She was smiling, though.

“You’re one to talk,” she said, “Sandslash could hide in those canyons under your eyes.”

“Hey, you leave Sandslash alone,” Rob said. “And he’d never go along with your insults.” He picked her bowl up off the ground and filled it with porridge before passing it back to her. Rob’s Sandslash was easily the laziest Pokémon in our little group, and also the most easy-going. I lay back onto the dewy grass and stretched my arms above my head.

“What a morning,” I said, looking up at the sky. Julietta held a canteen out to me, and I sat up again to drink from it.

“We’ll need to fill up soon,” I said. Thankfully, plenty of streams crisscrossed Viridian Forest, and finding water wouldn’t be a problem.

Julietta nodded. “You might as well let Braviary out while we’re in the forest,” she said. “Good hunting here, especially for the birds.”

I reached down to my belt and tossed a Pokéball away from the camp. It burst open, and Braviary emerged, ruffling his feathers. He cocked his head at me, and I pointed skywards.

“Skarmory’s already up there,” I said. “I’m sure she’s a kill ahead of you already.” The two huge birds enjoyed a friendly rivalry, and Braviary beat his massive wings eagerly and hurled himself into the sky. I watched him circle upwards before returning my attention to the bowl of porridge in front of me.

“I’ll leave Dragonair in for now,” I said around a spoonful of oats. “She’s still tired.” The fourth member of my team, Dragonair, had been put through her paces by an angry Heatmor as we came down from the mountains.

Julietta kept most of her own team in stasis. Gengar and Chandelure didn’t like the sun, and Alakazam preferred to meditate – or whatever the hell it was he did inside his pokeball. Houndoom and Espeon enjoyed the outdoors, and they were able scouts. Seeing a Houndoom was usually enough to discourage unfriendly visitors, which granted aren’t common in Viridian Forest, but we had been glad to have him as a guard dog as we made our way through the lonelier parts of the mountains. Ice Pokémon, which can be dangerous, generally avoid fire-types if they can help it, and with Ninetales, Rapidash and Houndoom filling the camp with flame and running interference for us, we hadn’t seen a single wild Pokémon before we came out of the high passes and into the foothills - where we’d stumbled upon a Heatmor burrow.

Julietta got to her feet and tossed the dregs of her coffee onto the ground. I watched her stretch again out of the corner of my eye before standing and tucking my own bowl into my pack. Rob kicked the fire out, and we hefted our bags. Rapidash trotted over to us, and I whistled. Out in the forest, I heard an answering yip from Ninetales. He and Houndoom would follow us in their own time, once they’d fed, as would Skarmory and Braviary, who were soaring somewhere high above us.

Julietta had the map, and I was humming as we left the camp and headed deeper into the forest. A lot of folks skirt around the edge of the woods to get to Viridian City. It’s easy to get lost in its depths, and even if it’s not a particularly dangerous place, you can’t let your guard down around bug- and grass- types, which are plentiful and hard to spot unless you’re careful. Lots of travelers have been waylaid by sleeping attacks, and the Beedrill colonies that populate the interior really are better left undisturbed. Poison’s nothing to scoff at, and deaths happen every year.

We weren’t worried, though, and despite what Julietta had said at breakfast about not rushing, we had decided to save time by cutting directly through the center of the forest. All of us were curious about Aurea’s offer, which she had refused to discuss over the phone. We had strong Pokémon, plenty of supplies, and all of us were comfortable camping, which is more than I can say for a lot of the trainers you meet on the road. It was a pleasant day for a pleasant hike.

We came upon a stream less than an hour into our hike, and filled our canteens with the clean, cool water. Rapidash was happy for the relief as well, even though she can run for hours. Espeon appeared from the shadows and rubbed herself around Julietta’s ankles.

“Three days through the forest,” Julietta said, looking at the map. “We should link up with a trail in two days. Once we’re out and into Viridian City, it’s a day and a half on Route One to Pallet Town.”

“Cake,” I said, “and we don’t even have to cross any more mountains.”

Julietta folded up the map, and I bent down to splash some water on my face. I had already pulled off my sweater. The morning chill was gone, and the sun was hot on our backs where it found its way through the thick forest canopy.

“Lead on,” I said, and Rob leapt across a narrower part of the stream. Julietta followed, as did Rapidash and I.

Our hike was enjoyable, and we had seen no one else when we broke again for a cold lunch of granola. We sat in the shade in a small grove, and passed a small bag of dried fruits back and forth. Sniffing, Ninetales and Houndoom wandered into camp.

“And where have you been?” I asked.

Ninetales panted at me, a bit of dried blood on his muzzle.

“Full?”

He curled up in the sun by way of response, and Houndoom walked over and lay at Julietta’s side. Braviary and Skarmory finally drifted down to join us, and we offered them water from our canteens.

“Empty out here,” said Rob.

“We’ll probably run into hikers the day after tomorrow,” I said, “Once we hit the marked trails.”

“I like the quiet,” said Julietta, and I agreed. Viridian Forest is popular with a lot of young trainers who come for the less-threatening bug and grass Pokémon, and many of them don’t know when to walk away from a fight. Of course, our formidable entourage is usually enough to scare away the beginners, but there are occasions when conflict is unavoidable or when folks just don’t know when to leave well enough alone.

Julietta is the most competitive of the three of us, and I haven’t seen her lose yet. She’ll accept most challengers, except the really weak ones, and she’s merciless. Rob doesn’t care about battling much at all, and I lie somewhere in between. Sure, I enjoy the victories, but once you’ve made it out into the real world, tourneys and ‘Dex-packing don’t seem as interesting as they do when you’re young. Give me the open sky and a destination, and I’m happy following my feet. To most places, that is.

My thoughts bent towards Pallet Town as we got to our feet and resumed our trek. Two years is a long time. The professor’s the only person from Pallet town I kept in touch with besides my mother after I left for the Academy – if you could call what I had with my mother ‘contact.’ I spent most of my youth trying to escape Pallet Town, and every time I was drawn back it felt like a failure.

We slept well that night after a long day making our way through uncut forest, and when we woke, clouds were crawling across the sky. It was grey and dark under the trees, and I was glad for Rapidash’s warmth. Ninetales and Houndoom led us through the woods, looking back occasionally to make sure that they were headed in the right direction.

The air was still, the only sound our heavy breathing.

“I think it’s gonna rain,” said Rob, looking up at the thick clouds through a break in the canopy.

Two hours later, he was proven right. We huddled together against the trunk of a wide-boughed tree, Rapidash, Ninetales and Houndoom having taken refuge in their Pokeballs. That’s one thing about fire Pokémon – they don’t like the rain. Neither does Espeon, for that matter, and so it was just the three of us. Skarmory and Braviary had taken off again that morning, and were roosting somewhere in the woods. They could take care of themselves.

We had our slickers pulled on and the branches provided some protection, but even so we were quickly soaked through. Being cold and wet is unpleasant, and we said little.

Julietta sat between Rob and me, and Rob passed the dried fruit around.

“This sucks,” said Julietta. She likes rain about as much as Ninetales does, and hugged her knees in to her chest.

I nudged her with my shoulder. “Cheer up. It won’t last forever.” I was wrong, though.

After a few hours, the rain slowed enough that we dared to leave the shelter of the tree, and we trudged on through the drizzle until dusk, when we gave in to the weather and pitched our tent. We carried two, but the larger one fit three people comfortably, and we didn’t feel like setting both up in the wet. Julietta had let Espeon out, and she curled up at our feet as Rob brought out a deck of cards and a bottle of something foul. We played a few hands before Julietta declared that she was going to sleep, and Rob and I passed the liquor back and forth and talked about nothing until we succumbed to fatigue.

Another damp morning awaited us, and we were grumpy without a fire. A breakfast of fruit and granola did little to warm us up or dry our boots, and I had a headache. It was overcast, and even Rob seemed moody.

“That set us back half a day,” said Julietta, checking the map and frowning.

We had seen neither trainers nor Pokémon, aside from the occasional flock of Pidgey. Butterfree were plentiful in the summer, but this late in the year they’d have migrated south, and the Caterpie and Metapod were probably holed up in the trees by now.

“I doubt we’ll hit Viridian City until tomorrow,” she continued, before leading us away from the campsite.

“I can’t wait to take a shower,” Rob said.

“You’re getting fragile,” I said. “Used to be you’d spend weeks out here without complaint.”

“Used to be. But I’m cold.”

“And you smell,” said Julietta.

We carried enough money between the three of us for hotels when we didn’t feel like camping, and I was looking forward to a night in a bed as much as Julietta was. Staying in the Pokémon Centers is all well and good when you’re a teenager, but that was years ago. The three of us enjoyed a bit of civilization now and then. I suspected Julietta had a nice little nest egg hidden away somewhere, as she never seemed to want for anything, even if she was just as frugal as Rob and me.

We didn’t find the trail until late afternoon, and the rain had picked up again before we made it there. We saw one or two hikers on the path, and waved sodden hellos to each other without breaking stride. None of the Pokémon liked the weather any more than we did, so once again we found ourselves setting up camp alone.

“We should see the city tomorrow morning,” said Julietta, snapping together a tent pole. “We’re not that far now.”

I was surprised that I didn’t recognize the trail. I must have hiked that way in the past, even if it was long ago. The last time that Rob and I had been to Pallet town we had come through Celadon City in the East, entering Viridian City from a different direction. After leaving, we had made our way through Fuschia City and Lavender Town before meeting Julietta for the first time in Cerulean City.

“Oi,” said Julietta, interrupting my reminiscence, “help.”

I did, and soon the three of us were in the tent once more, listening to the rain on the roof.

“No wonder you don’t like it here,” Julietta said as I unrolled my sleeping bag.

“It doesn’t usually rain so much.”

“Are you going to phone your mother tomorrow?” she asked.

I sighed. “What’s the point?”

“Well, I want to meet her.”

“No, you don’t.”

Rob coughed, but Julietta pressed on.

“Sure I do. It’s not like you’ll be able to avoid her, right? Isn’t Pallet Town tiny?”

“Yeah. No real reason to go there unless you’re headed down to Cinnabar, and even so most people leave from the Southern coast and tour through Seafoam.”

Julietta was right. If I didn’t call her, someone would probably see me and let her know I’d been there without saying, and that would only make things more unpleasant.

“Fine. I’ll call her tomorrow once we find a hotel. Why do you care so much about this?”

“You only get one family,” she said, busying herself in her pack.

Julietta had never volunteered anything about her own relatives, and I wasn’t about to ask. The way she fixated on my mother made me figure she’d tell us when she was ready.

“Hey,” said Rob, poking his head out of the tent, “rain’s stopped.”

Julietta and I crawled outside. The sun was dipping in the sky, but it looked like the clouds were thinning out.

“Finally,” said Julietta, “I thought my feet would never be dry again.” She sat down on a sodden log and opened a canteen.

“And I thought you’d never stop complaining,” I said, sitting next to her and holding my hand out for the water. She glared at me, but passed it to me anyway, and I took a long drink before handing it to Rob, who leaned against a tree across from us.

“So?” he said, after tossing the empty canteen back to me. “Excited for the City?”

“God, yes,” said Julietta. “A hot bath and the chance to do my laundry? I’m afraid I’m going to smell as bad as Rob if this goes on.”

“You surpassed me long ago,” Rob said.

“Impossible.”

“You both stink,” I said, “I would know. I spent last night in a tent with the two of you and I thought I was going to suffocate.”

“I smell like a lady,” sniffed Julietta, “but I agree that Rob’s odor is disgusting.”

“The ladies like my odor,” said Rob, smirking.

“No they don’t,” said Julietta, “they like your money. Anyway, what ladies? All you ever do is flirt with the Sisters.”

“I’ll have you know I was the most eligible bachelor at the Academy. Wasn’t I, Niall?”

“That is...actually true. But that was only before any of the women had actually talked to you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rob said.

“It means that beauty’s only skin deep,” said Julietta.

“Ah,” said Rob, “Finally, you admit that I’m beautiful.”

Julietta laughed. “What I was trying to say is that you’re an idiot.”

Rob pulled a face. “You wound me.”

“Shall I give the two of you some privacy?” I said. I let Ninetales and Rapidash out of their pokeballs. Ninetales sneezed and lifted his paws when he felt the wet ground, looking up at me in disappointment.

“Deal with it, and go find yourself some dinner.”

Julietta released Houndoom, and the two of them growled and tussled before disappearing into the trees. “Bring us something!” I yelled after them, and Houndoom barked in reply.

“I’ll try to find some wood,” said Rob, but as he turned to leave we heard a sharp cry from above us and Skarmory and Braviary descended in a gust of wind and leaves.

“Perfect timing,” Rob said, “you can help me look. C’mon.” Skarmory clacked at him, and leapt back into the air. Braviary puffed his feathers out and looked at me.

“You still hungry?” He snubbed his beak at me. “Ninetales and Houndoom are out hunting. Want to join them?” Braviary beat his wings once and landing in the branch of nearby tree, burrowing his head into his neck feathers and closing his eyes. “Suit yourself,” I told him, and turned back towards Julietta.

Braviary’s as haughty as they come, and true, he may not be a fire-type, but we took a liking to each other a few years back and have been traveling together ever since. Technically, I didn’t catch him, but we have an understanding, and he doesn’t mind being carried in a pokeball on occasion. And he might act aloof, but he once tore apart a Magmar that had Skarmory pinned down with a flame wheel. I know where his loyalties lie.

Rob and Skarmory returned half an hour later, somehow having found wood that looked dry enough to burn. Rob made a small pile, and Rapidash, who was by now grazing next to the tent, set it alight. Skarmory hopped into the tree next to Braviary, who opened his eyes upon her arrival. The branch bent comically low under their combined weight, but it held, and Skarmory began preening the feathers on Braviary’s nape with her metal beak.

“Those two,” said Rob, “get closer every day.”

“Jealous?” said Julietta.

“A little,” Rob said. I snorted.

“I’m sure there’s a Jenny out there for you,” I said. “Or a Joy.”

“Unlikely,” said Julietta, “Unless he was more successful before I showed up. You know, back when he was Most Eligible Bachelor.”

“So it’s a dry spell,” said Rob, shrugging, “Not like the two of you are doing any better. Plus, I have a good feeling about Viridian City. Let’s go out tomorrow night, Niall.”

“As you wish,” I said. “You too, Jules. We’ll have a celebration.”

“A celebration?” she asked.

“Call it an autumn harvest festival,” Rob said to her. “I think you owe me a drink, too.”

“For what?”

“For hurting my feelings just now. Cold beer goes a long way towards restoring my good favor.”

She laughed. “Your favor’s cheap. But fine, I’ll buy you a beer. You too, Niall. Hell, I haven’t gotten properly drunk in ages.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said, “let it loose, Jules. I’ll be there with the bucket.”

“Last time it was me with the bucket,” she said, and Rob laughed.

“I already said thank you. And that only happened once.”

“That was a good time,” said Rob.

“For who?” I said.

“For me. And for the rest of Ecruteak City, probably.” He stooped to pick up his pack and carried it towards the fire, where he began unloading some battered spice tins.

It was amazing what a little warmth and a break in the rain did for our spirits. The fire cheered us, and we had our shoes dried out by the time Ninetales and Houndoom returned, each carrying a brace of hares. I set about skinning two of them, and the dogs lay down behind the tent to enjoy their kills in private.

Rob takes care of most of the cooking. He’s good at it, even when he’s not reheating canned food, and he enjoys it. We, for our part, enjoy letting him cook for us, and before long the hares were sizzling on a pair of spits.

“Gimme,” said Julietta, crouching down next to Rob.

“Patience,” he said, turning one of them delicately.

“I’m hungry.”

“I can tell, but it’s not ready. Niall, do something about this.”

“I can’t control her,” I said.

“Damn right,” said Julietta, standing.

“Hey,” I said to her, “Did you think there was something weird about the Joy in Pewter City?”

“This again?” said Rob.

Julietta frowned. “Can’t say I noticed, but I wasn’t paying attention. Does it matter?”

“Nah. Guess not.”

Ninetales barked from where he sat on the edge of the camp, and I tossed him the entrails I had removed from the hares. He disappeared back into the darkness, and we heard the sounds of canine enjoyment.

“Simple pleasures,” said Julietta, looking on.

“You any different?”

“’Course not,” she said, showing her teeth. “I like eating the insides, too.”

Rob called us over a few minutes later, and we passed the spits back and forth between us, tearing off mouthfuls of hot meat. It didn’t take them long to disappear, and the three of us sat back in silence. Rob fished the bottle of horrors out of his pack, and poured us each a measure.

“A toast,” he said, raising his mug, “to good food and good company.”

“To us,” Julietta said, “and to being dry.”

“Hear, hear,” I said, and downed mine with a grimace. “My god, where did you find this stuff?”

“Agh,” coughed Julietta. “That is vile.”

“It is a bit harsh,” Rob pursed his lips and made a sommelier’s face at his mug.

“It tastes like cleaning fluid,” said Julietta. “More, please.”

Rob refilled our mugs, and our heads were spinning when we crawled into our sleeping bags an hour later.

“Anyone want to come back in?” I called out of the tent flap to the Pokémon. I got no response, and started to zip up the flap.

“Leave that open,” said Rob. “No bugs this time of year.”

“It’ll be cold,” said Julietta.

“You’ll live,” said Rob, pulling his bag up over his head. The tent instantly filled with the sound of snoring.

“Wonderful,” said Julietta. She was in between the two of us, and rolled to face me where I lay on my back with my hands underneath my head.

“Night, Niall,” she said.

“Night,” I said. Despite the rumbling emanating from Rob’s bag, it wasn’t long before I heard Julietta’s steady breathing as well, and eventually lost myself to dreams.

I woke up in the middle of the night, thirsty. I rolled over, fumbling for a bottle. Through the open tent flap, I could see Rapidash’s mane flickering in the darkness.

“Niall?” Julietta opened her eyes and mumbled at me.

“Sorry,” I whispered, grabbing a canteen and unscrewing it. “Just thirsty. Go back to sleep.”

“’Ugh,” she said. I heard her tossing back and forth as I drank. “Damnit, now I’m awake. Give me that.”

I passed her the canteen, and she propped herself up on an elbow and took a swig from the bottle.

“Ah, that’ll do me good tomorrow. When I said I hadn’t gotten properly drunk in ages, that didn’t mean I wanted a hangover for our hike into the city.” She looked over at Rob’s now-silent form. “At last, the beast slumbers.”

She took another sip and passed me the water, and I did the same.

“More?”

“Nah,” she said, lying back down. I turned over towards the wall and tucked my chin into my bag.

“Cold. You mind if I lean on you?”

“Nah,” I said. Her back pressed against mine, and when I opened my eyes again, it was morning.

#not destiny #iiiiiit's pokemon #pokemon #pokemon fan fiction #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon fandom #pokemon fan writing #pokemon stories #pokemon fan lore #pokemon fanlore

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aethelar · 8 years ago

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*whispers* where did you live in patagonia, what language did they speak, was cow's milk really common, was it hard to grow things yourself, what kind of wildlife is there, can you find wifi easily, how did you get there in the first place? *really wants to visit but has food allergies and is an awkward duck who also wants to know everything*

Ok actual serious informations times let’s go

Where in Patagonia

It depends how long you have; if you’re going for a shorter holiday, it’s probably best to stick to one or two areas mentioned below because travel between places is long and, particularly in winter, unreliable. If you’ve got more time, then this is what I’d recommend:

Start in Ushaia, Tierra del Fuego. There are regular flights from Buenos Aires and it’s the southernmost point that’s easy to get to; an excellent starting place. This is the fin del mundo, the end of the world; cruises to Antarctica leave from here, you’ll find some excellent cultural centres and museums, and some lovely walking in the surrounding areas and national park, penguins, flamingos, glaciers, everything. Thoroughly recommend a boat trip as well that takes you out into the Beagle Channel because a) BEAGLE CHANNEL and b) the guides are fabulous fountains of knowledge and very happy to answer the genuine mountain of questions you will have.

Next one is Puerto Natales which is the jumping off point for Torres del Paine national park - you may have to go via Punta Arenas to get here, but that’s no hardship at all because it’s a lovely town. The big thing here is walking in the national park; the famed W trek is a five day monster that in summer is packed but much emptier in winter - though do bear in mind that the lodges might not be open in winter and camping is only for the experienced. There are a variety of shorter sections you can do as day treks; for practicality, we did a series of these instead of the full five day one. You’ll get mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, bright green lakes, and empty horizons (though again, in summer it can be much busier)

And Perito Moreno Glacier is an absolute star of a place; it gorgeous, and one of the most peaceful places I’ve been, and has various walking trails around as well. You can take boat trips but honestly only do this if it’s crowded on the land, otherwise you won’t get the freedom to just stop and marvel for like four hours. You’ll want to stay in El Calafate which is around an hour or so drive away (there are loads of people offering shuttle buses so no worries) - this is glacier hotspot with Los Glaciares national park so definitely a good base for taking trips out to the mountains.

On the other hand, if you want to stay in the mountains rather than taking day trips to them, you want my favourite place in Patagonia: El Chalten. This is a small, remote town, very quiet, lots of places closed during winter and only open in high season, absolutely fabulous bakery down on the main road near the bus station. The only thing to do here is walk. (Or, well, variety of outdoor sports I guess but I’m a walker so walking is what I did.) Plenty of routes you can do from the town itself that make nice day treks, some of them challenging, some of them more accessible. This was the absolute place where you walked from the door of the hostel and only stopped walking when you reached the edge of the mountain / lake / glacier / world - take thermos, sit on your rock at the conquering peak of your day, and enjoy the view. In summer, the road north from here - Route 40, the Carretera Austral - is one of the most famous and beautiful roads in South America; in winter, alas, it’s closed.

And those would be my top four places in Patagonia. If you have the time, then honestly seriously consider pushing north until you hit Santiago (it’ll make the flights easier apart from anything else!) If you do, then keep eyes out for Bariloche (in the Lake District, absolutely stunning scenery and many chocolate shops, excellent walks and kayaking and even skiing if you get the season right), Chiloe (very spiritual, ancient forests, plafitos which are houses on stilts over the water, and watch the sun setting over muelle de las almas - the dock of souls - which is a bridge leading off the edge of the island to the horizon and one of the most special places I visited. Bring a torch for the way back. Don’t make my mistake and forget that it gets dark after sunset) and Pucon (adventure sports! Natural geothermal hotsprings! There’s a giant volcano and the only done thing is to climb it and then slide down on a tea tray there is a story here but this post is getting long so maybe another time) on the way to Santiago.

Language

All of Chile and Argentina speak Latin American Spanish. It is an accented form - “ll” is pronounced like a hard sh or soft j sound unlike the standard y sound, for example - but I had no trouble understanding or being understood and I speak Castillian Spanish. Most hostels and the like will have people who speak English, and there will be English guided tours if you want one, but if you’re buying your own food in the shops or speaking to local people then you’ll find Spanish useful. Even just a few phrases! De donde son is a question everyone asks, so learn the answer - Soy de Inglaterra or Estados Unidos or whichever country you’re from. Buenos dias is said to everyone at all times; buen dia is good morning; Me encanta su pais means I love your country and Hay una cama libre por esta noche is how you ask a hostel if they have any beds free for the night. That should be enough to get you started. (I still haven’t worked out how to do accents on this computer so apologies for those lacking)

Milk, Growing things yourself, and other food

Milk is not a common feature. Tea is drunk blank, coffee with powdered cream, and you have yoghurt on your cereal. I didn’t notice I’m afraid if it was cow’s or not, but I would assume it was? I don’t know what the hot chocolates were made with but my money is on manna from heaven so that may or may not be cow. You won’t find milk hard to avoid if you need to though.

As far as growing things yourself goes, we honestly didn’t try this one. We were living out of backpacks in hostels, so we relied on local markets. That being said do be aware that meat is a lot more common than vegetables and in certain areas, fresh vegetables can be expensive and hard to come by. There’s usually a good array of tinned or frozen though! Taking a wild stab, I’d guess it’s not the simplest thing - most of the wild vegetation was hardy grasses or shrubs rather than trees or flowers, but this may change in summer. I have to say, seeing trees again as we went north was a huge relief - coniferous trees in Bariloche and deciduous trees (deciduous trees! ancient forests!) in Chiloe. Flowers didn’t properly come back until Bolivia; we arrived at four in the morning in Sucre and it was like the whole night smelt of flowers and I may, possibly, have cried.

The big local foods were barbecue (particularly lamb) or stew; lots of meat, much more than you’d be used to eating, but you need it for the warmth. Ushaia is also particularly famous for spider crabs and has a lot of fish. If you’re cooking for yourself big towns will have most things and small towns you just have to be creative. Root vegetables, steak, and potatoes are almost always available. Breakfast is usually cereal and yoghurt with fruit or bread and dulce de leche, but the bakeries have some fabulous things - pastafrola is a delicious jam tart, alfajor is a caramel biscuit sandwich, both are amazing. For chocolate, rama (logs) are where it’s at and turista chocolate shops sell them in huge quantities.

And drinks; hot chocolate is of course divine but the other thing everyone drinks (in Argentina at least, less so in Chile) is mate - this is a herbal tea (I think?), quite bitter and earthy but very nice, which is as much a part of society as it is a drink. But it’s genius, because it’s socially acceptable to take a thermos and a mate cup with you everywhere you go and just drink tea constantly. It’s also a social drink and often shared; the rules we learnt are as follows: when the cup is passed to you, drink a small bit, and pass on. Don’t hog the cup. Don’t use the spoon to stir or mess the leaves up. If you say thank you when you pass it back, that means you’ve had enough and won’t be included in the next round. You can ask what blend of mate people use, but don’t be offended if it’s a family secret.

Wildlife

The most commons things to see are guanacos (a wild cousin of the llama), condors (which are huge), penguins (king penguins year round, magellanic penguins in their breeding season September to February), flamingos, sea lions and sea birds. And land birds, actually, though I’m not so good at identifying them - definitely woodpeckers and something that looked like a crow. Foxes are harder to spot but still present; further out to sea are whales and dolphins.

For best chances of seeing wildlife, you may need to pick up day trips eg out to the penguin colonies or on a whale watching tour, but you’ll certainly see some things just by going out and exploring by yourself. One thing that was happily lacking was mosquitoes; absolutely no issues with biting insects at all. Again, summer may be different!

Wifi

The only place we had problems was in El Chalten, which very occasionally had power issues in the whole town. Don’t worry; all heating is gas based. Ain’t nothing turning that off. Otherwise wifi is readily available in hostels and even in some cafes and bus terminals; it might not be fast enough to stream HD movies, but we never had problems with the speed for normal usage.

How did you get there

We actually went as part of a larger trip spanning as much of South and Central America as we could fit in and travelled almost exclusively on buses. Honestly, this is absolutely fine as long as you can sleep on the road - buses in Chile and Argentina are high quality, they bring you hot sweet coffee in the morning, and apart from the weather things run on time and efficiently. Journeys can be long; overnight is standard, if you’re skipping out the in-between places you can find some longer journeys.

If you’re visiting only Patagonia then I’d recommend flying; Ushaia definitely has an airport, and I believe El Calafate does too. The land route up to Santiago follows the Andes and is gorgeous, well worth it, but the land route between Ushaia and Buenos Aires is less spectacular. If you want to include Buenos Aires you could either break up your flight to Ushaia by stopping here for a few days, or travel Ushaia to Santiago then cross the Andes to Mendoza and travel to Buenos Aires from there. These are the Argentinian plains; huge open spaces, lots of wine.

Et voila! Let me know if you have any other questions about things; Patagonia is an awesome place in every way and yes you should visit. Don’t let food allergies stop you. And pack jumpers that can layer and good walking shoes. And a decent knife! If you’re doing your own cooking, number one thing you’ll find useful is a sharp knife because hostel kitchens may or may not have good ones available. It makes such a difference. One of the ceramic ones with the cases is ideal because it won’t accidentally cut holes in your shirts while it’s packed.

#patagonia #chile #argentina #travel post #mimi answers #owlgirl1998

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